After starring in Warfare, Will Poulter is set to lead Rapture with one of his costars. Poulter will be best known to many for his previous work in movies like We’re the Millers (2013) and The Maze Runner (2014), with the actor making a splash in horror in 2019 with Ari Aster’s Midsommar. More recently, Poulter has been seen as Chef Luca in The Bear TV series, in addition to playing Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). In A24’s acclaimed Warfare, Poulter takes on the role of SEAL team leader Erik.
Per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Poulter is now set to reunite with Warfare costar Kit Connor for Rapture, which hails from writer and director Jordan Tannahill. Manu Ríos will also star. HanWay Films will be launching sales for the project at Cannes later this month.
Rapture is set to start filming later this year in Hungary, with Elevation Pictures, 2AM, and Brookstreet Pictures producing, and Eli Arenson on board as cinematographer. A synopsis for the medieval zombie movie is included below, teasing that a group of monks will be the central focus:
Set in Medieval England in the year 1348, the story alights on Lansley Abbey, a remote stone monastery in Yorkshire, which houses ten monks bound by a life of strict routine and devotion. Their fragile peace is disrupted by the arrival of a messenger – a man with haunting news from the outside world who rapidly shows symptoms of a mystery illness. A virulent plague is spreading through the land: marked initially by a hemorrhagic fever, it turns its victims into “revenants” — restless, unᴅᴇᴀᴅ beings.
As the contagion closes in, Lansley Abbey becomes a battleground: desperate outsiders beg for refuge while the infected threaten to overrun its walls. The monks are torn apart by a moral rift — between those who believe they must care for the sick and those who want to protect the centuries of knowledge safe-guarded by the monastery. As death is fully unleashed, so too is the brothers’ capacity for extraordinary acts of altruism and ruthless betrayal, forcing them to confront the ultimate question: what does it mean to be human?
The CEO of HanWay Films, Gabrielle Stewart, shared the following statement about the movie:
“We have all been blown away by the vision Jordan has for Rapture. It is rare to have such an atmospheric and terrifying zombie horror film that inhabits such an authentic historical world, with complex characters grappling with the biggest moral dilemmas. It is no wonder he has already attracted such great casting in Will, Kit and Manu with more to come, backed by top tier producers.”
What This Means For Will Poulter
Poulter Leads A New Kind Of Zombie Movie
Poulter’s star power has been clearly on the rise over the past few years, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Bear, in particular, proving successful with audiences. Warfare reviews may be glowing, but the film has not been a box office hit, having grossed $25 million on an estimated $20 million budget. It’s not clear what Rapture‘s budget will be, but the тιтle is seemingly already a buzzy one at this early stage. It seems likely to make a much bigger splash than Warfare did, which will further boost Poulter’s career.
The zombie horror subgenre has been in something of a downturn in recent years, but it could be poised for a comeback. Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later is already a H๏τly anticipated тιтle this summer, and, if it’s a hit, it could reinvigorate interest. Another bonus for Rapture is the fact that it takes place in the Middle Ages, a time period not well-explored with zombies. The most notable example of such a film is probably Army of Darkness (1992), but that Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ movie was distinctly comedic. From the synopsis, Rapture will be much darker.
By December 2024, the 28 Years Later trailer had racked up 150 million views, making it the second most-watched horror trailer of all time.
Our Take On Rapture
Is This What The Zombie Genre Needs?
What will be interesting with Rapture is seeing what type of zombies it features. The more traditional slow zombies, as seen in The Walking ᴅᴇᴀᴅ TV show, seem to have lost their appeal somewhat in recent years. The recent Walking ᴅᴇᴀᴅ spinoffs have been introducing new zombie variants, and 28 Years Later continues a franchise tradition with its Rage Virus, which makes the monsters much faster and more terrifying. With Rapture‘s zombies dubbed “revenants,” this film could also be opening the door for some exciting updates to this traditional movie monster.
As seen with the large Warfare cast, Poulter can excel in a film in which he is part of an ensemble.
With Rapture set to follow a monastery of 10 monks, there is evidently room for more exciting casting decisions beyond the three currently announced. As seen with the large Warfare cast, Poulter can excel in a film in which he is part of an ensemble. Many questions remain about Rapture, but it already sounds like one to look forward to.
Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline
