Quad Cities Filmmakers Ready Their Latest Horror Movie for November

The Iowans behind A Quiet Place (2018) are back with another horror movie set to be released in November. Per the buzz from its first major screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), it looks like the boys from the Quad Cities got another hit on their hands!

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who were both raised in Bettendorf, IA, attended the University of Iowa together. They went on to create their own production company, Bluebox Films, and sold their original screenplay to Paramount Pictures in 2016. That screenplay wound up being the basis for a movie you might've heard of/about: A Quiet Place, starring John Krasinski and Emily Blunt.

Now, the duo are the writers and directors of Heretic, a delightfully creepy-looking new film starring Hugh Grant in a rare villainous role. The trailer is exceptional, for it gives you the gist of the storyline without any seemingly seismic reveals. The plot itself is pretty straight-forward too:

When two Mormon missionaries attempt to convert a man, it turns out to be far more dangerous than they could have anticipated. - per Heretic's Wikipedia page

The film's imagery, right down to the presentation of the A24 logo, suggests puzzles at the center of the story. The trailer even ends with its female protagonists inside a sort of labyrinth-like maze. I can feel it in my moviegoing bones that this one is going to be good.

The reception from the film's premiere at TIFF has been exceptional. Out of the gate, Heretic has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, uncommonly high for a horror film. The film will be released nationwide on November 8th, 2024. While strange it's not coming out in time for Halloween, horror films released in theaters during spooky month tend to fall off hard come Halloween weekend and beyond, so maybe this was a financially prudent move.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have ostensibly not stopped working since A Quiet Place became one of Hollywood's flagship horror franchises. Last year, the duo released 65, a dinosaur-thriller starring Adam Driver, which reportedly cost $45 million to make. Unfortunately, the film came and went pretty quietly, but still managed to recoup its budget.

Beck and Woods also opened The Last Picture House in 2023. The movie theater/lounge has been the site of exclusive events, screenings of cult classics, indie/international films, and the latest blockbusters since its launch.

Furthermore, The Last Picture Show is a two-story cinema located in the historic East 2nd Street Motor Row Building in Davenport. The establishment has been retrofitted to accommodate new video screens, 35mm capabilities, and even a rooftop to watch films and enjoy cocktails. The pair of filmmakers received $600,000 from a Destination Iowa grant. The project costs were estimated at $3.7 million.

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Iowa's most prolific filmmaking duo's new film, Heretic, stars Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East, and Topher Grace, and hits theaters on November 8th. Read more about the film on Wikipedia!