Bring Her Back arrives in US cinemas this week, and the Philippou Brothers have been discussing why they made that, not Talk To Me 2.
This week sees the US release of one of this year’s most anticipated horror films, A24’s Bring Her Back, directed by the Philippou Brothers, helmers of 2022’s breakout horror hit, Talk To Me. The latter film not only created a huge buzz upon release, it capitalised on that momentum to become A24’s second highest-grossing horror film ever, just behind Ari Aster’s Hereditary.
Considering Talk To Me's reported production budget was just $4m, the film’s financial performance wouldn’t just earn them a sequel opportunity at A24, but also a degree of carte blanche as to future projects, allowing the duo to instead pursue an entirely different project.
“When we submitted Bring Her Back to some of the funding places, they were like ‘what about Talk to Me 2?’ So there was pressure from people,” Danny Philippou tells The Hollywood Reporter.
“[Talk to Me 2] was going to be the next project, but I was like I really, really want to make [Bring Her Back]. Is it okay if I make this one?’ So A24 was on board, and they allowed us to.”
The terrific Sally Hawkins stars in Bring Her Back, with Billy Barratt, Stephen Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton, Jonah Wren Phillips, Olga Miller, Mischa Heywood, Liam Damons, Alina Bellchambers all co-starring. It sees “a brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother” according to a brief synopsis.
Hawkins is already picking up rave reviews for her performance, and we’re convinced that she’s going to scare us witless.
Considering that they’ve already walked away from a big, splashy adaptation of Capcom’s video game tournament brawler, Street Fighter as well as prioritising this new horror film over a sequel to Talk To Me, it’s clear that the duo aren’t afraid of bucking the trend for yound filmmakers who have found huge success early in their careers.
Michael Philippou adds: “To go straight into Talk to Me 2 always felt like it would just be capitalising on hype, as opposed to what’s the right story we want to tell next. We needed a break from Talk to Me 2, so we can revisit it with fresh eyes.”
With regards to Talk to Me 2, the Philippous reveal that they have written two different versions of the follow-up, one that is ‘directly connected to its predecessor’, and ‘another that’s more of a sidequel.’ Both stories are focused on new characters. We’re wondering if they wouldn’t mind making one each?
We’ll bring you more on Talk To Me 2 as we hear it. Bring Her Back releases in UK cinemas on 1st August.
