The UK production arm of the French distributor has announced its 3rd in-house UK production after Brighton Rock and Attack the Block. it’s The Awakening starring Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton and set to shoot in the UK in late June. Hall plays a paranormal investigator in England after the First World War, whose job is debunk spiritualism. Then she comes across a haunting in a boarding school. Nick Murphy is the director and David Thompson, whose Origin Pictures developed the project with BBC Films, is producing. StudioCanal is handling worldwide sales, while StudioCanal Features will be the lead financier alongside BBC Films and Scottish Screen. “This is a highly original and compelling story, an unusual combination of fright and emotion,” Thompson tells me. “Nick is one of the most talented new directors around . Much of the best work I have been involved with has been from new directors and I think he will bring a really exceptional vision to this.” Murphy directed the BBC TV’s Surviving Disaster and Occupation, which was nominated for a TV BAFTA for Best Serial.

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