Pete Davidson has been cast in Miramax’s upcoming horror thriller, The Home, which will be directed by The Purge series creator, James DeMonaco. The Saturday Night Live star is set to play Max in the film, whose production is set to begin later this month, Deadline is reporting.
The Home will follow Max, a troubled man who, after beginning to work at a retirement home, realizes its residents and caretakers are hiding sinister secrets. As he investigates the building and its forbidden fourth floor, he starts to uncover connections to his own past and upbringing as a foster child.
Miramax’s Bill Block and Sebastian K. Lemercier will produce the drama, which will be written by DeMonaco and Adam Canto. The Home will be the studio’s latest addition to its extensive roster of acclaimed horror movies, which includes Halloween, Scream, Hellraiser and Dracula.
“We’re excited to be backing DeMonaco’s brilliant vision,” Block said will discussing The Home. “James’ The Purge horror franchise has grossed over $450 million at the worldwide box office. With his masterful storytelling abilities and Pete’s versatility as an actor, this film will put audiences everywhere on the edge of their seats.”
Besides garnering initial fame for starring on NBC’s hit sketch television show, Saturday Night Live, since 2014, Davidson had his breakout leading film role in the 2020 comedy, The King of Staten Island. His performance in the movie, which he also co-wrote with helmer-producer Judd Apatow, earned him praise for being able to balance comedic and dramatic material within the same character.
In addition to The Home, Davidson has also signed on to star in several other films, including director Alex Lehmann’s comedy, Meet Cute. However, many of the rest of his upcoming movies are much darker than the work he’s currently known for as a comedian. Those films include helmer Halina Reijn’s slasher, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, and director Rupert Sanders’ war drama, The Things They Carried.
DeMonaco, who, like Davidson, lives on Staten Island, has garnered praise for writing all five movies in The Purge franchise. He helmeed the first three entries and produced the prequel and last sequel, and created, penned and produced the two seasons of the series’ television spin-off.
Before The Forever Purge, the fifth installment in the dystopian action film franchise, was released last summer, DeMonaco implied it would be the final entry in the series. However, he has since confirmed he wrote a script for another follow-up.
“Even with [The Forever Purge], we were like, ‘It needs to flip itself on its head,'” the filmmaker told ComicBook last fall. “And we didn’t really commit to even moving forward until I woke up with the idea that, ‘Oh, people don’t stop.’
“Doing another Purge Night that ended in 12 hours felt like, ‘Ah, we’re just kind of repeating ourselves. We don’t want to do that again.’ And so [with Purge 6] we said, ‘Let’s close that book and open a new book if we’re going to continue,'” DeMonaco continued.
“So, I hope it works. People seem to be happy with the script, so let’s hope we get to do it,” the scribe-helmer added.