Netflix reportedly paid “high seven figures” for CURS>R through Cannes’ virtual market earlier this week.
This week, Netflix acquired the world rights to director Toby Meakins’ new film CURS>R, about a bankrupt college dropout. The plot will follow the former student as she decides to play an obscure, 1980s survival computer game in the hopes of winning a life-changing $125,000. Little does she know, the game is cursed: after a series of terrifying challenges, she realises she’s no longer playing for the money, but for her life.
Iola Evans, best known for starring in the American television series The 100, will star in the lead role. Alongside her will be acclaimed English actor Eddie Marsan (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), American actor Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and rising star Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas).
Meakins’ previous work includes short films Breathe (2019), about a girl you can only see when you hold your breath, and LOT254 (2012). Screenwriter Allen’s previous credits include creating and showrunning BBC America’s irreverent fantasy comedy The Watch and serving as a writer and producer on the first series of the acclaimed television sequel to Wolfgang Petersen’s Das Boot for Sky/Sonar/Hulu.
Butterfield became a household name in 2019 after starring in the hugely successful Netflix comedy-drama series Sex Education, in which he plays awkward teenager Otis Milburn.
CURS>R will be released on Netflix in 2022.
Words by Camilla Patini
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