‘This Is Not a Test’ – Production Begins on Olivia Holt-Starring YA Horror from ‘Pyewacket’ Director
Pyewacket and Out Come the Wolves director Adam MacDonald is helming apocalyptic horror-thriller This Is Not a Test, and the filmmaker recently took to Instagram to reveal that production is officially underway. The horror movie adapts the YA novel by New York Times bestselling author Courtney Summers, set at the start of a zombie apocalypse. […]
Pyewacket and Out Come the Wolves director Adam MacDonald is helming apocalyptic horror-thriller This Is Not a Test, and the filmmaker recently took to Instagram to reveal that production is officially underway.
The horror movie adapts the YA novel by New York Times bestselling author Courtney Summers, set at the start of a zombie apocalypse.
It follows “Sloane and four other students who take cover in Cortege High to escape a world plagued by the infected. As danger relentlessly pounds on the doors, Sloane begins to see the world through the eyes of people who actually want to live and takes matters into her own hands.”
The cast includes Olivia Holt (Heart Eyes, Totally Killer, “Cruel Summer”), Froy Gutierrez (The Strangers: Chapter 1, “Cruel Summer”), and Luke MacFarlane (Bros, “Brothers & Sisters”).
Cybill Lui is producing under her Anova Pictures banner, while MacDonald also produces.
“With such a beloved YA novel as our source material by Courtney and an incredibly talented cast in Olivia, Froy and Luke, I couldn’t be more excited to begin filming with Adam, whose work I’ve been a fan of since ‘Backcountry,'” Lui previously told Variety. “It’s going to be an intense ride from beginning to end. We’re dead set on making an intense, emotional, and gripping film set in the ’90s — a ‘Breakfast Club’ meets ’28 Weeks Later’ — as we follow our heroine’s journey and ask ourselves, what do you hold onto when everything is gone?”
Author Summers said: “As a longtime horror movie fan, I’ve loved Adam MacDonald’s wildly intense and sharply realized contributions to the genre, and I’m thrilled he’s sharing his talents with ‘This is Not a Test.’ From its stellar script to its exciting cast, his and Cybill’s enthusiasm for the book and their passion for filmmaking has and continues to define every part of this process. I can’t wait to see the story come to life–or should I say death?–and claim its place in the zombie canon.”
This Is Not a Test marks MacDonald’s return to teen horror. The filmmaker previously unnerved horror audiences with witchy teen horror Pyewacket, which puts this upcoming feature on our anticipated list.
Stay tuned for additional details as they arrive.
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