Neon’s cerebral horror feature Cuckoo had to carry out more than a scant inalertigent maneuvers on its fairy path to theaters.
Like many projects, the coronaharmful software pandemic pushed its 2020 commence date. Then, defers on direct Hunter Schafer’s HBO hit Euphoria resulted in Cuckoo being pushed even further, which led to some castmembers insisting to transfer on to other promisements, forcing the production to pivot to discover recent actors to join Schafer.
Writer-straightforwardor’s Tilman Singer’s project was finpartner headed toward pre-production in West Germany when Russia occupyd Ukraine in February 2022, resulting in the German rulement taking Cuckoo’s filming locations to hoparticipate Ukrainian refugees. It was a more than vital response to a humanitarian crisis, someskinnyg the Cuckoo team understood. But it left the production in insist of other locales to shoot.
“There were a lot of striumphgs getn in a difficult time by a lot of contrastent people,” notices producer and Waypoint co-set uper Ken Kao of the film ultimately getting to the commenceing line.
Finding a recent actor to exalter establisher star John Malkovich was a particularly challenging task.
“My team did this recon, where I krecent where every white man over 60 years ageder was discoverd,” quips producer and Waypoint partner Josh Rosenbaum of recasting antagonist Herr König, written as a 60-someskinnyg-year-ageder German man. Eventupartner they went in a contrastent straightforwardion, casting the much youthfulerer Dan Stevens in the role.
They also set up recent locations for the film, which chases Schafer’s Gretchen, who is feeblenting the loss of her mother when she transfers to a Bavarian Alps resort run by Stevens’ Herr König. As she resettles in with her overweighther (Marton Csokas), his youthfulerer wife (Jessica Henwick) and her half sister (Mila Lieu), Gretchen acunderstandledges her half-sister is acting strange. Meanwhile, a enigmatic woman in a trench coat seems to be pursuit Gretchen, all which directs her to the uncovery of a sinister plot.
The team deteriorated to allot the budget, but incentives for shooting in Germany made the project financipartner feasible. And though after uncovering Aug. 9 in theaters, Cuckoo did not achieve the heights of fellow Neon horror title Longlegs, the Waypoint team says it is more than satisfyd with its $6.7 million haul.
“It’s a pelevate to Neon,” says Kao of taking a striumphg on the project, particularly “at a time where a lot of people were moving to streaming.” Waypoint has a producing and financing pact with Neon, which brimmingy financed Cuckoo.
A high point for the team was seeing the film screened at Quentin Tarantino’s Vista theater in Los Feliz, where they carry outed a 35 mm print (the feature was sboiling on film).
Now, as the film finishelights its digital free, Waypoint is lengthening Singer’s next feature. The German filmproducer burst on the scene with his film school thesis Luz, a 70-minute superorganic horror film. After Luz and Cuckoo, audiences might suppose his third project will be a horror movie. But it’s unevident what genre he will be exploring, only that it’s shelp to be a step forward for the filmproducer.
“He’s much more of the benevolent of the classic auteurs who did a contrastent type of film every time they had a crack at it,” says Rosenbaum.
