According to the folks over at Deadline Hollywood, Hugh Grant (most recently seen playing the villainous Forge in John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) is “circling” a lead role in A24’s forthcoming horror film Heretic.
The film will be written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the dynamic duo behind this year’s 65, Haunt, and the screenplays for both A Quiet Place and this month’s The Boogeyman (that last one was also co-written by Mark Heyman, for the record). While Grant is not yet signed on for the project, Deadline reporting that he’s “entering talks” means that this is on the way to being a done deal.
Deals fall apart all the time, of course, but we’re hoping this one pans out: while there’s very little to report at the moment in terms of Heretic‘s plot, it’s said to revolve around “two young women of faith who are lured into a cat-and-mouse game in the home of an eccentric man.” Presumably, Grant will be that eccentric man. Also presumably, he’ll be up to no good. You ever hear of a well-adjusted dude playing at-home cat-and-mouse games with two young women of faith? Me, neither.
It’s interesting to hear that Beck and Woods are getting into the A24 game, and we’re guessing the script for this one’s something special if it’s drawn in an actor as in-demand as Grant currently is (his list of recent and forthcoming projects, which are not horror-related and which I therefore will not be listing out here, is lengthy). We’re intrigued, and eager to learn more.
Stay tuned for more on Heretic as further updates become available.