EXCLUSIVE: Nick Jonas (Power Ballad) and Kathryn Newton (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) are set to star in MRC‘s holiday horror flick White Elephant, the first project under their partnership with Radio Silence and Project X, dubbed RSPX, oriented around inventive and engaging horror and thriller projects.
Newton reteams with Radio Silence and Project X after starring alongside Samara Weaving in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, the sequel to their 2019 Searchlight horror film Ready or Not, which premiered at SXSW on May 13 and released in theaters the following week.
Directed by Clown in a Cornfield’s Eli Craig, from a script he wrote with JT Billings, White Elephant’s logline is as follows: Eight friends. One prize. Zero trust. Their annual festive holiday gift exchange spirals into a cutthroat game of Christmas carnage.
MRC is the studio financing the film with Spencer Berman, Nick Jonas, William Sherak, Paul Neinstein, James Vanderbilt, Tyler Gillett, and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin producing. Exec producers are Billings, Ryan McDonough, Amanda Drake, Newton, Scott Levine, and Chad Villella. Production began this week.
Last month, Jonas premiered Power Ballad, a new musical dramedy where he stars opposite Paul Rudd, to critical acclaim at SXSW. Directed by Once and Sing Street’s John Carney, the film releases via Lionsgate on June 5. In film, Jonas’ other recent credits include You’re Cordially Invited and The Good Half. This year, he’ll also be seen starring alongside Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart in the latest Jumanji film from Columbia Pictures. He is repped by UTA and Philymack.
In addition to Ready or Not 2, Newton has recently been seen in films like Abigail, Lisa Frankenstein, and Griffin in Summer. At SXSW this year, she was also seen starring alongside Elizabeth Banks and Juliette Lewis in DreamQuil, a new thriller from Alex Prager. Upcoming projects include the Jean-Michel Basquiat biopic Samo Lives and Amazon MGM’s thriller The Devil’s Mouth. She is repped by Entertainment 360, WME, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.
Best known for helming the cult horror comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, starring Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk, Craig is coming off Clown in a Cornfield, a slasher he directed and co-wrote that set an opening weekend record for IFC Films. He is repped by UTA, Anonymous Content, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.
Prior to Ready or Not 2, Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett rebooted the Scream franchise alongside Project X. Upcoming, they’re set to reteam with the company on a new installment of The Mummy franchise, starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, for Universal. They are repped by Brillstein, CAA, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
Coming off a franchise record with Scream 7, the highest-grossing entry in Scream‘s 30-year history, which grossed over $204M worldwide, Project X is also known for Nuremberg, Fountain of Youth, Abigail and the hit Netflix series The Night Agent.
The studio behind the recently released Wuthering Heights, G20 and All of You, MRC’s upcoming slate includes The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, The Gallerist, A Place in Hell, The Best is Yet To Come, Unabomber, and Eloise.
White Elephant‘s co-writer/EP Billings is repped by Paradigm, Silver Mass Entertainment, and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols.
