Ben Wheatley has taken over as director of the subterranean horror film “Molepeople,” and LaKeith Stanfield has left the cast. Rob Savage stepped away from directing because of scheduling conflicts, TheWrap reported Wednesday.
The shake-up comes less than three weeks after Stanfield and Ben Mendelsohn were announced as leads at Blumhouse’s Blumfest event on Oct. 9. Early reports did not say whether Mendelsohn remains attached, and none included a statement from Stanfield. When he signed on, he called the project “unlike anything I’ve ever done.”
Savage keeps an executive producer credit. His latest film, “Other Mommy,” opened to $27.5 million to poor reviews and is nearing $100 million worldwide. He had described “Molepeople” as a relative of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “The Hills Have Eyes.” Nathan Elston wrote the script, which follows a man who climbs down into abandoned tunnels beneath New York City and finds a warped society living there.
Wheatley arrives with a résumé that spans British cult cinema and studio work. “Kill List” earned six British Independent Film Award nominations, “Sightseers” played the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, and he adapted J.G. Ballard’s “High-Rise” with Tom Hiddleston. He later made “Free Fire,” Netflix’s “Rebecca,” “In the Earth” and “Meg 2: The Trench” with Jason Statham. His most recent thriller, “Normal,” pairs Bob Odenkirk with a script by “John Wick” creator Derek Kolstad. It premiered in the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival before its April 2026 release. His experimental feature “Bulk” debuted at Edinburgh in 2025.
The calendar leaves little slack. Cameras were scheduled to roll in the U.K. at the end of November or in early December, and Paramount is holding to an Aug. 27, 2027 release date. Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Paramount Primal co-finance and co-produce the film, with Paramount distributing worldwide. Jason Blum, J.D. Lifshitz, Raphael Margules and James Harris produce. Ryan Turek, Tracy Rosenblum, Elston and Savage serve as executive producers.
