West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose will star in the Prime Video and Blumhouse Television psychological thriller House of Spoils, playing an ambitious chef who opens her first restaurant but has to contend with the powerful spirit of the estate’s previous owner who threatens to sabotage her at very turn.
Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy are directing off their script based on their original idea. House of Spoils reteams Cole, Krudy, Secret Engine and Amazon Studios following the latter’s acquisition of Cole and Krudy’s Blow the Man Down, produced by Secret Engine, out of 2019 TIFF. Cameras will roll in the fall.
Jason Frank Rothenberg
The project reunites with Blumhouse with Amazon, which have made the collection of genre movies, Welcome to the Blumhouse, and the recently wrapped slasher horror-comedy film Totally Killer, directed by Nahnathcka Khan starring Kiernan Shipka, Olivia Holt, Julie Bowen, and Randall Park. Prime will stream Blumhouse’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Nanny from first-time feature writer-director Nikyatu Jusu starting December 16.
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DeBose took home Oscar, BAFTA, Critics Choice and SAG awards for her star-making role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story. In winning her Oscar, she became the first openly queer Afro Latina to win an Academy Award. She is also starring in Sony’s Kraven the Hunter, which will be released on January 13, and Matthew Vaughn’s action film Argylle for Apple. She will also star in Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s space thriller I.S.S. DeBose’s other credits include AppleTV+’s Schmigadoon! and Ryan Murphy’s Netflix adaptation of the hit-Broadway musical The Prom. She starred on Broadway as part of the original cast of Hamilton and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical which earned her a 2018 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Cole and Krudy’s debut feature Blow the Man Down won TIFF’s prize for Best Narrative Screenplay before premiering internationally at the Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for an Indie Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.
“Since Blow the Man Down, we have been huge fans of Bridget and Danielle’s unique filmmaking voice and knew we needed to be a part of whatever they wanted to do next,” said Julie Rapaport, head of movies at Amazon Studios. “Pairing their thrilling script with Ariana’s incredible talent is a dream come true, and we could not be more excited to bring this story to the screen and to our customers around the world.”
Said Chris McCumber, president of Blumhouse Television: “We’re excited to see Ariana’s fresh, bold and spirited energy that won her an Oscar in a role that is completely different. And with the gifted filmmaking team of Bridget and Danielle, the talent in front of and behind the camera is exceptional.”
Producers for House of Spoils are Jason Blum for Blumhouse; Alex Scharfman, Lucas Joaquin and Drew Houpt for Secret Engine; and Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath for Divide/Conquer. Executive producers are Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold for Blumhouse Television.
DeBose is represented by CAA, AC Management, Jackoway Austen Tyerman, and The Lede Company. Krudy and Cole are represented by Grandview and CAA.