The director of The Nanny, Nikyatu Jusu, is reportedly working on a continuation of David Cronenberg’s 1986 body horror, The Fly.
It’s been a couple of years since writer-director Nikyatu Jusu made her debut with The Nanny, a social thriller with horror elements that was an absorbing watch, if a little tonally uneven. Our review at the time stated that The Nanny ‘combines social commentary, drama and horror – but doesn’t quite balance them.’ But the beautifully made film made one thing clear: Jusu is a filmmaker with bags of potential and we’ve been eagerly waiting to see what she’d turn her hand to next.
At the time of The Nanny's release, Jusu was quickly attached to two prestigious horror projects, with public announcements stating that she would be working on a vampire film produced by Jordan Peele. If that wasn’t exciting enough, the filmmaker was also announced as the director of a new take on George A Romero’s seminal zombie horror, Night Of The Living Dead.
We haven’t heard much from either of those since; it’s possible they’re still bubbling away at Universal and Amazon MGM respectively. Meanwhile, a new report from Deadline reveals that Jusu is developing another genre title – a continuation of David Cronenberg’s 1986 body horror, The Fly.
This is what we know so far: 20th Century Studios and Chernin Entertainment are backing the project, which has been scripted by Jusu. It’s set in the same universe as the Cronenberg film and is not a reboot or remake. Cronenberg’s outre style of body horror is very much back in fashion at the moment, with this year’s The Substance – directed by Coralie Fargeat – proving to be a popular revival of the genre.
Presumably, Jusu’s movie will ignore The Fly II, a schlockier, gorier sequel directed by special effects wiz Chris Walas and released in 1989. Interestingly, Cronenberg tried to get his own sequel made for several years, with his script being a “meditation on fly-ness.”
“It wasn’t really a remake, it was more of a sequel or a sidebar. It was a meditation on fly-ness,” Cronenberg said earlier in 2024. “None of the same characters or anything and, of course, with an understanding of modern technology. It was something I was very pleased with and it was a disappointment not to get it made.”
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one, and we’re hoping to soon get some kind of an idea on the timeline of Jusu’s upcoming slate. When we do hear more, we’ll certainly let you know.
