After deftly handling supporting roles in action fare like Man on a Ledge and The Last Stand, actress Genesis Rodriguez is set to make her mark as a scream queen in the upcoming Blumhouse thriller Home.
The actress will star alongside Topher Grace in the thriller, which centers on a man (Grace) who inherits a creepy old mansion from his parents and begins to believe that it is haunted. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that he’s right, and lots of horrifying supernatural events ensue. It has not been confirmed which character Rodriguez will be playing in Home, though I imagine that she’ll be taking on the role of the love interest of Grace’s protagonist.
Though the actress hasn’t showcased a particularly impressive set of dramatic chops to date, I also didn’t mind her performances in last year’s Hours or Identity Thief. Both were supporting roles, but she handled them quite well. Rodriguez is already starring in a Kevin Smith-directed horror film called Tusk, due out at some point this year, so perhaps horror is the genre in which the actress will finally be able to prove herself.
Emmy-winner Patricia Clarkson (Six Feet Under, Friends with Benefits) is also in negotiations for Home, which Universal is set to distribute under its first-look deal with Blumhouse Productions. The Last House on the Left and +1 helmer Dennis Iliadis will direct from a script by Last House on the Left and Cell scribe Adam Alleca. Home boasts an unusually accomplished array of producers too, including Jason Blum, The Departed producer Graham King, Leonardo DiCaprio and DiCaprio’s Appian Way partner Jennifer Killorian.
With legitimately dozens of horror projects in the works, Blum’s Blumhouse Productions is going to be extremely busy for the next three or four years. In 2014 alone, we’ve already seen the better-than-expected Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, and we’re looking forward to the arrival of The Purge: Anarchy and Jessabelle this summer and to the simultaneous October releases of Paranormal Activity 5 and Ouija. Given the company’s busy schedule, Home will likely be slotted for release sometime in the fall of next year.
Tell us, are you interested in Home, or have haunted-house movies lost their appeal in recent years? Is Blumhouse Productions going to over-saturate the market, or are you loving the company’s prolificacy? Let us know what you think in the comments section!
