WME Independent Boards Jaume Collett-Serra’s ‘Play Dead’ — EFM

WME Independent is handling world rights on Jaume Collett-Serra’s genre feature Play Dead and will launch the film at the upcoming EFM. 

Written by Natalie Conway and Peter Stanley-Ward, Play Dead is described as a “World War II white-knuckle thriller” about an Allied soldier who, after an ambush, must play dead to survive the night while surrounded by Nazis.

The film stars Noah Jupe (Hamnet) and Matthias Schweighöfer (Oppenheimer). Nocturnal Entertainment, Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures, BoulderLight Pictures (Weapons), and Bad Grey are producing. The film is fully financed by Nocturnal Entertainment. The film is currently in post-production. 

“Play Dead is the rare script that felt unapologetically cinematic, built for tension and atmosphere,” Collet-Serra said in a statement. “What grabbed me right away was the precision. Every scene escalates, every beat matters. It had this addictive quality where I was turning pages fast to see what happened next. One moment I was being pulled in with suspense, and the next I was suddenly feeling all the emotion.” 

Raimi added: “Jaume and his cast bring the tense, emotional screenplay for Play Dead to life through a masterful building of suspense and riveting performances.”

Nocturnal Producers Keaton Heinrichs and Akiva Nemetsky described Collett-Serra as the “perfect filmmaker” for Play Dead, a film with “bold set pieces and unyielding tension.”

“He has the rare ability to build tension with precision, and his execution of the script speaks to all his strengths as a world-class filmmaker,” the pair said of Collett-Serra. “We couldn’t be more excited to launch PLAY DEAD as our first film under the Nocturnal banner,” said Nocturnal Producers Keaton Heinrichs and Akiva Nemetsky.”

EFM runs from February 12 to 18.