Still riding high on the success of The Woman In Black, the filmmaking team at Hammer has been moving swiftly to capitalise on it. A Woman sequel is already in development along with Gaslight, and there's yet another movie on track to scare us all silly thanks to Jared Harris signing up as the lead in The Quiet Ones.
Inspired by real events, the film will see Harris play a charismatic professor who encourages his students to take part in his latest experiment: attempting to create a poltergeist from negative human energy. As you might guess, this does not end well. We’re guessing most of the students will end up wishing they’d taken part in the sleep study being conducted by kindly Professor F. Krueger in the next lab.
“Jared Harris is an extraordinarily talented actor and I'm thrilled that he will be playing the key role of Professor Joseph Coupland, who led his most ambitious students in a notorious 1974 experiment to create a poltergeist. Jared has the perfect blend of charisma, intelligence and wit that the part of Professor Coupland demands, and I'm excited to watch him bring the role to life,” says director John Pogue.
Pogue, who made Quarantine 2, is on board to direct, working from a script he’s re-writing, one that has already seen work from Tom DeVille, Craig Rosenberg and Oren Moverman. He’s set to start shooting this June in Blighty.
As for Harris, this won’t be his first time playing a Professor, though Moriarty in Sherlock Homes: A Game Of Shadows was a little more malicious from the off. He’s currently back as Lane Pryce for the fifth series of Mad Men and will next be seen on the big screen in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.