Jennifer Kent’s “The Babadook” was released 12 years ago. Her sophomore effort, 2018’s “The Nightingale,” which won a prize at Venice, was met with somewhat positive reviews, but that was her last film.
It’s been almost eight years since that “Nightingale” premiere, but Kent is apparently ready to delve into a new project.
During an interview on the Blank Check podcast, the Aussie-born filmmaker confirmed she’s “working on a sci-fi film that looks to be shooting this year.” According to Kent, it’s an “adaptation of something,” but she refused to divulge further details.
Now, I don’t know if this is the project she’s about to shoot, but in late 2024, I reported that Kent was working on an adaptation of Clive Barker’s classic novel “The Thief of Always,” which was then in the advanced stages of development.
“The Thief of Always” is a 1992 novel written and illustrated by Barker. The plot concerns a 10-year-old boy who journeys to a magical house, only to discover its master uses the home to attract children and steal their youth to ensure his own immortality.
Does that sound like sci-fi to you? It’s more like fantasy-horror, but maybe. Who knows. I’ll try to dig a little deeper and find out more details about this one.
In the meantime, Kent has only directed two films in twelve years—although she did direct a segment of Guillermo del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities” back in 2022. However, it does sound like she finally has something about to enter production, which is great news for fans of her first two films.