Ben Wheatley has been in the news quite a bit recently. After his remake of Rebecca, fans weren't exactly pleased with the filmmaker. The Netflix film's premiere was followed quickly by the announcement that Wheatley would be taking on The Meg 2, though, so it's not all bad news. Today, we learned from Deadline that Wheatley's been keeping quite busy during quarantine. After months of the roller coaster of countries being opened and closed again, the director teamed with the production company Neon to create In The Earth.
The film stars Joel Fry, Ellora Torchia, Hayley Squires, and Reece Shearsmith. The The Earth will follow a scientist and park scout as they venture deep into the forest on an equipment run while the rest of the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus. As one would expect, the scientists' journey doesn't go quite as expected. In addition to a killer virus, there seems to be something strange about the forest the team has found themselves in.
Admittedly, it may be hard for some Wheatley fans to put aside their distaste for pandemic-related material right now. No matter how much Hollywood wants to cash in on the drama, the general consumer consensus has largely been "no thanks" when it comes to the idea of COVID-related material. That said, those opinions may shift a bit when the film releases later in 2021. Though that shift is very likely dependent on whether or not we've globally gotten the virus under control at that point.
Neon has fully financed and produced the film alongside Wheatley and Andy Starke's Rook Films. The production of the film took place entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Expect more news on In The Earth as we get closer to its late-2021 release.
