‘1883’ star Isabel May is leaving the cowboy life behind and diving into Lionsgate’s next twisted thriller

Isabel May, the breakout star of Yellowstone prequel series 1883, has joined the cast of Lionsgate’s upcoming hostage thriller Sunflower. According to Deadline, May will star in the film opposite Lovecraft Country actress Jurnee Smollett, with Misha Green on board to direct in her feature film debut. Sunflower will follow two women struggling to escape from a college professor holding them hostage on an isolated sunflower farm. 

Deadline previously reported that Sunflower will begin production sometime this summer, though casting details beyond May and Smollett remain unknown. While it marks her directorial debut, Green has previously worked as a producer and writer for the 2023 Jennifer Lopez-led film The Mother, and served as a writer on Lovecraft Country. For her part, May earned breakout status as Elsa Dutton in Paramount+’s 1883, a role she reprised as narrator in the follow-up installment, 1923. 

May elsewhere has credits on the Jenny Slate and Charlie Day rom-com I Want You Back, and The Big Bang Theory prequel sitcom, Young Sheldon. “The screenplay is unique, thrilling, and flat-out scary,” Lionsgate president Nathan Kahane said of Sunflower (per Deadline). “It’s going to make a hell of a movie.” Green, meanwhile, described landing the directorial role as “kismet,” since Sunflower “was the first script I sold when I landed in Hollywood.” 

Sunflower is one of multiple projects in store for May, who is also due to appear alongside Casey Affleck and Kathy Bates in David M. Rosenthal’s upcoming thriller The Smack. May also joined the cast of the since-cancelled Wonder Twins, based on the DC Comics characters of the same name. Black Adam writer Adam Sztykiel was on board to direct the superhero film, before HBO announced its cancellation due to budgeting concerns. 

Other projects on Lionsgate’s upcoming film roster include The Hunger Games prequel film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the Robert De Niro-led comedy About My Father and Joy Ride, directed by Crazy Rich Asians writer Adele Lim.