Adam Scott may be busy facing off against shady office types in hit Apple TV Plus series Severance right now, but he’ll soon have a bigger threat to fight in writer-director Damian McCarthy’s new horror movie: witches.
Having recently signed up for the lead role, as revealed by Variety, Scott is gearing up to play a horror novelist in supernatural chiller Hokum; a Stephen King-type who travels to rural Ireland to scatter his parents’ ashes – oblivious to the fact that the inn he’s booked to stay at is supposedly haunted by an ancient enchantress. Peter Coonan (Bad Sisters) and David Wilmot (Bodkin) round out the supporting cast.
Filming is set to kick off on location in late February, marking the fifth collaboration between Image Nation and Spooky Pictures. Their previous outings include creepy thriller Watcher and found footage flick Late Night with the Devil. Tailored Films, the production company behind The Apprentice and Bring Them Down, is also on board.
“With Adam’s talent and charisma and Damian’s unique direction, this is another opportunity for us to push boundaries in the horror genre and continue to make our mark in the international market,” producer Ben Ross said in a statement.
Over the last five years, McCarthy has made a name for himself in the genre space, having wowed audiences with Caveat (2020) and 2024’s Oddity, which debuted to a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. Both films explore psychological trauma and isolation as they see their protagonists – an amnesiac driver and a blind medium – hole up somewhere remote, only to become convinced they’re sharing their surroundings with the conduit of a malevolent entity; a toy rabbit and wooden mannequin, respectively. Though McCarthy’s works tend to have a twist or a sting in their tail…
While he’s perhaps best known for his more comedic roles in Step Brothers and Parks and Recreation, Scott is no stranger to horror, either, having appeared in titles such as Piranha 3D, Krampus, and Little Evil. His second-ever role, in fact, was in Hellraiser: Bloodline back in 1996.
Hokum has yet to spell out a release date, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted. For now, check out our picks of the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.
