The only question I had when seeing this news is, “What took so long?”. It Follows which came out in 2014, wowed audiences and grossed $15m on a budget of next to nothing. That’s usually the recipe for immediate franchise in the horror world, but it will be a full decade before we get to see the aptly titled, They Follow. Neon, my second favorite “indie” studio (just behind A24) will produce the film which is bringing back director David Robert Mitchell and star Maika Monroe.
So back to the question of why it took so long, well if I had to guess I’d say it’s that current Neon CEO Tom Quinn was previously at Radius, the company that put It Follows out in the first place. Sometimes, you just need the right people in place.
While shooting won’t start until next year, I would put a safe bet on this one making it to the screen. It Follows wasn’t just a creepy film that was shot and performed well…it was an original idea that hit home with a lot of people…something you don’t see much of in horror these days. The constant anxiety the movie brought on was something people hadn’t felt with horror previously.
It always reminds me of that question “You get a billion dollars but there’s always a snail following you, and if it catches you you die, do you take the money?”. That idea that there’s some single minded thing out there to kill you and won’t stop until it does, but isn’t necessarily in a rush to do it…that’s just terrifying.
