EXCLUSIVE: QWGmire, the independent production and film financing company founded by Molly C. Quinn, Matthew M. Welty and Elan Gale, has entered into a development and financing pact with Taka Ichise, the famed Japanese producer integral to bringing J-horror to global prominence in the late ’90s and early 2000s with titles like Ring and The Grudge.
Under the pact, Ichise and QWGmire will develop and finance a new slate of horror films for the U.S. market. Already, they have four projects in development with an eye toward shooting over the next 18 months.
The collaboration marks Ichise’s return to the American market for the first time since Nicolas Pesce’s reboot of The Grudge for Screen Gems in 2019. Specifics as to projects in development remain under wraps. But the intention is to create a new generation of horror films that draw from the unsettling power, psychological intensity, and cinematic ambition that made J-horror a defining force in global genre filmmaking.
“Since I was a child, I have always loved the feeling of sitting in a movie theater and being truly surprised by what unfolds on screen,” Ichise told us. “With this new partnership, we want to create that kind of experience again through stories that stay with audiences long after they leave the theater. I am excited to work with QWGmire because they share the same passion for bold, unforgettable filmmaking, and I look forward to bringing these new projects to life together.”
QWGmire’s Gale said, “Taka Ichise crafted my favorite mysteries and authored many of my nightmares. The opportunity to help create a new generation of horror films for a new generation of viewers is beyond my wildest dreams. We are honored to collaborate with him and cannot wait to share his new visions with the world.”
Ichise is known for championing atmospheric, psychologically driven horror films intertwining folklore and modern anxieties that have transcended their roots in Japan to become global sensations, generating roughly $1 billion at the global box office. His film Ring, directed by Hideo Nakata, centered on a cursed videotape that kills viewers seven days after watching it. Gore Verbinski directed the classic 2000 U.S. remake starring Naomi Watts, which spawned numerous sequels, the most recent being Paramount’s Rings in 2017. Directed by Takashi Shimizu, his film Ju-On: The Grudge centers on a vengeful spirit born from a violent death that infects anyone who enters a haunted space. It also spawned numerous films for a global audience, beginning with the Shimizu-helmed The Grudge, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, in 2004. Ichise is represented by UTA.
Repped by WME, QWGmire’s recent credits include Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck, released by Neon, Molly Gordon’s Oh, Hi!, and the newly released Normal, starring and co-written by Bob Odenkirk.
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