Next year, David Robert Mitchell's It Follows will be celebrating its tenth anniversary. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 and starring Maika Monroe, the indie film earned acclaim on the festival circuit and from critics, and it's regarded as one of the best examples of modern horror. Now, at a time when the genre is really clicking, we are finally getting a sequel, as it's been announced by Neon that a new chapter is in development titled They Follow.
News of this follow-up comes from Variety, which says that David Robert Mitchell is returning to write and direct the new movie, and Maika Monroe will reprise her role as final girl Jay Height. The studio Neon is set to produce the movie and will also be handling domestic distribution. Filming is expected to begin at some point next year.
It Follows is well-regarded for creating a terrifying supernatural entity that operates as a metaphor for the consequences of teen sex. The story follows Jay Height in the aftermath of her having intercourse with her boyfriend (Jake Weary), who tells her after the act that she is going to be perused by a being that only she can see and that can take the form of any person. The entity stalks and kills anyone "infected," and Jay must work with her friends to try and figure out a way to stop it.
In addition to Maika Monroe's Jay, the list of survivors of the first movie includes Olivia Luccardi's Yara Davis and Keir Gilchrist's Paul Bolduan, though the trade report doesn't mention if those characters will be coming back for They Follow. Unfortunately, there aren't any plot details available at this time either.
It Follows was writer/director David Robert Mitchell's second feature following 2010's The Myth Of The American Sleepover, and he followed his horror film with the 2018 neo-noir Under The Silver Lake starring Andrew Garfield. He has been most recently working with Anne Hathaway on an untitled Warner Bros./Bad Robot project, but it's unclear if that film will come together before or after They Follow.
Between It Follows and Adam Wingard's The Guest, Maika Monroe has developed a following in the genre, and she built on her reputation last year starring in Chloe Okuno's Watcher (which made my list of 2022's Best Horror Movies). She recently completed work on Oz Perkins' Longlegs, which sees her star as an FBI agent on the hunt for a serial killer and sees the investigation take a turn into the occult.
They Follow does not yet have a release date, but stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for the latest big updates about the developing project. To learn about all of the scary films that are in the works and on the way in the coming months, check out our Upcoming Horror Movies guide.
