Award-winning studio NEON has announced They Follow, a sequel to the 2014 horror film It Follows, from writer/director David Robert Mitchell and starring Maika Monroe. Monroe will reprise her role of Jay Height, which earned her an Empire Award nomination for It Follows.
NEON will introduce the title to international buyers this week at AFM, with principal photography beginning in 2024. NEON will co-produce the film alongside Good Fear Content.
Mitchell serves as a producer with Jake Weiner and Chris Bender of Good Fear Content, and the original producers of It Follows, David Kaplan, Erik Rommesmo, Rebecca Green, Laura Smith.
They Follow marks the second partnership between NEON CEO Tom Quinn and filmmaker, David Robert Mitchell, as Quinn’s label RADiUS released It Follows in theaters in 2014. The film grossed $15 million domestically.
Mitchell broke into the film industry with coming-of-age drama The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010), which had its world premiere at South by Southwest. He garnered critical acclaim with his second full-length feature It Follows, including collecting a Critics Choice Awards nomination for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie.
In 2018, he wrote, produced, and directed black comedy/mystery Under the Silver Lake, starring Andrew Garfield and Riley Keough. Mitchell is currently in development on an Untitled Warner Bros. and Bad Robot project with Anne Hathaway.
Monroe recently wrapped production on Oz Perkins’ Longlegs, co-starring alongside Nicolas Cage which NEON will release in 2024. After her breakout role in It Follows, Monroe starred in Neil Jordan’s Greta for Focus Features as well as Hot Summer Nights, Villains, Honey Boy and Watcher.
They Follow will join the growing list of NEON Productions, including Brandon Cronenberg‘s Infinity Pool; Bishal Dutta’s It Lives Inside; Cuckoo, the feature film debut of Hunter Schafer; The Painter and the Thief narrative remake; Asif Kapadia’s 2073; and Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End, a golden-age musical starring Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.
In August, NEON expanded its footprint worldwide with an international sales division that is handling foreign sales on Ava DuVernay‘s Origin, which NEON will release on December 8th following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and North American premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival.
NEON continues to be a leader in the acquisitions space with highly’anticipated titles, including Pamela Adlon’s directorial debut Babes, starring Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau; Michael Mann’s Ferrari, set for a nationwide release on Christmas Day; and Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall from Justine Triet which is currently in theaters.
There’s also Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera; Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days, the Japanese selection for ‘Best International Film’ at the Academy Awards and starring Cannes ‘Best Actor’ award-winner Koji Yakusho; and Robot Dreams from Pablo Berger.
CAA Media Finance brokered the deal with NEON. Mitchell is represented by CAA, Good Fear Content and David Fox at Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox Rosenberg & Light.
Monroe is represented by WME and Entertainment360.
The producers are represented by Hayden Godlblatt of FKKS, Allison Binder of GGSSC and Michael Weiss of Concentric Law.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.