Quick Links
Last summertime I had the opportunity to locomote to Dublin with Universal Pictures to explore the set ofAbigail , my first stumble to Ireland , but not a first forScreen Rant . I sent member of our squad to The Emerald Isle to visit the productionsDracula Untoldand47 Roninin years past . Both features are also from Universal , the former anothermonster horror from the studio .
We made sure to visit a few Dublin must - sees like the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery and even take a myopic sightseeing sail on the River Liffey . But it was during a tour of Marsh ’s Library that the stage was really set for what we were about to see .
establish in 1707,Marsh ’s Librarywas the first public library in the nation , and it ’s whereBram Stoker transmit research forDracula ! We go through where he signed in to the depository library in 1866 - 67 and the Koran that he read on Transylvania decades before publishing his epistolary novel . This was the perfect introduction to what was referred to at the time as " Untitled Monster Film from Radio Silence & Project X Entertainment " .
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
concern : Melissa Barrera Is Under Attack By A Seemingly Indestructible Little Girl Vampire in This Trailer for Universal ’s Abigail
It ’s late June 2023 , a few weeks before another major Hollywood work stoppage is about to begin and there ’s uncertainty abound . Producer William Sherak ( The Night Agent , Ready or Not ) tells me at dinner the evening before jaw theAbigailset that they really do n’t make out what to expect and that it ’s hard to contrive product accordingly since there ’s no singing if the SAG - AFTRA would go on strike and if so , how long it could take for the labor conflict to be resolve . The hit did befall butAbigailwas still able to meet its April 2024 launch windowpane .
" The actor strike was really difficult . It definitely shift the momentum,“co - directorMatt Bettinelli - Olpintold us when we caught up with him and Radio Silence partnerTyler Gillett . The directing pair madeAbigailafter filming a pair ofScreammovies follow their hitReady or Notand told us on set that if you care that movie , specifically the combining of humor and gore , Abigailis"Ready or Not on steroid . "
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett aka Radio Silence
How Abigail Was Affected By The SAG-AFTRA Strike
" But the good news and we feel very golden for this is that we were able-bodied to just jump right into mail service , and we basically shot the motion picture movie in order,“Matt continues . “So we were able to basically edit the first two acts of the motion-picture show , and then love what we had , and then go back ready to wind up that now have sex what we have to make . "
Universal loved what they ’d understand so far from the first two routine ofAbigailin post - production during the strike , and when principal photography summarise , the cast and crew were able to not only have a better and more clear design of how to complete the flick , but they now could add to it as well . They brought in stunt choreographer Wade Allen ( Barry , Kong : Skull Island ) to level up the action . “He ’s sort of a second unit music director on this . And he ’s incredible,“Matt excuse .
Abigail Was Shot In A Party House Once Owned by the Guinness Family
And the more natural action the better , sinceAbigailmight just be in the running for one of the crashing movies ever . I can confirm this to be rightful because I walked through some of it , sidestep entrails hang from the ceiling while exploring one notable elbow room in particular from the old mansion boast in theAbigailtrailers . This was not your ordinary set visit and this was not your normal solidifying .
The story ofAbigailbegins with a rip-off . A grouping of malefactor , for want of a better term , who do n’t acknowledge each other , but each have a specific skillset , were press for a kidnapping . appropriate a individual from a residence and take them to another localization ( another sign of the zodiac ) and secure them for 24 hours to receive a life - change payday . It ’s here at the iconicGlenmaroon House in Dublin , Ireland , that we spent two days on Seth during night shoot . It was summertime solstice in Ireland at the clock time , so the crew would snap interiors until the sun kick the bucket down around midnight and go out for four short hour before returning inside for more shoot . Producer Ron Lynch evidence us that after our visit , they only had one more twenty-four hour period at the Glenmaroon mansion , then the production was off to the other sign of the zodiac of the picture where the kidnapping takes place .
The Glenmaroon House , an iconic and historic locating in Dublin , has changed hands a few times over its many decades and is both beautiful but old and decrepit . When coupled with the production interior designer ’s dismay augmentations ( thinklotsof taxidermy ) and lamia - fueled gore , it becomes something else . The Glenmaroon House was at one point a literal company inking pad for Arthur Ernest Guinness , son of Edward Guinness . Yes , thatEdward Guinness , head of the Guinness brewing business . Arthur built a second house on the attribute 120 years ago for family life , keeping the main mansion a party stamp pad of form , indoor pool included .
COPYRIGHT © 2023 BCD URBEX
That pocket billiards looked a slight different while we were there since it was full of dead body that Kathryn Newton ’s character , Sammy , had to … pilot . “Oh my gosh , the most like traumatic experiences I ’ve ever had , in the expert coolest way,“Newton tell us in describing that special sequence as we - a group of media - shuffle into the church addition to the house that was added after the Guinness family lose this demesne . “I had to do something where I jump into a pool of bodies,“Newton continue :
“ So that was the best scene I ’ve ever buck . 100 % most iconic scene I ’ve ever done in my life history , probably . I hope , you get it on , that ’s the end . Like when you do something scary like that , you just want it to be so dread that it stays with the audience . ”
Abigail’s Cast Helped Develop Their Own Characters
Abigail’s Rat Pack actors sings praise for young star Alisha Wier
While production takes place in Dublin , the urban center reduplicate for Boston in the story ofAbigail . The buildings and river look like Boston so it works , and some of the cast put on an American accent for their reference , while others get to keep their aboriginal glossa . Dan Stevens in particular plays a New York ex - cop and adept Alisha Weir drops her Irish accent to play American as well , though that fritter many during the early days of yield . “I was incredibly impressed with her in Matilda . I assumed she was British,“Stevens tells of his young carbon monoxide - costar who play the not - so - new titular lamia . Stevens explain :
I had n’t meet her before we sit down to do the read - through . She just walked in with her mom and sat down . And we started read through the script . And then I thought , " Oh , she ’s American . " And she did this flawless American accent and the read through . Really smart as a whip . Really kind of shuddery and assured . I was like , " Oh , she must be American . That ’s incredible that she did this British emphasis in Matilda . " And then I chatted to her afterward , it turns out she ’s from Dublin ! And I say , " well , that ’s extraordinary . Do you have a dialect double-decker ? " And she said , " No , I just watched the telly . " And she is the sweetest , loveliest theatrical role , one of the most professional hoi polloi I ’ve ever worked with "
For Kevin Durand however , he was able-bodied to change his fictional character ’s origin and utilize his aboriginal Québécois accent , something he ’s never done on film before . When Durand pitched this to the director , it was a no - brainer , and all the casting were able to help oneself contrive the look of the characters , develop and falsify their backstories . “Of course , like , why would you say no to that flavour ? Right ? It makes it so interesting and so specific,“director Tyler Gillett tells us of the collaboration and originative freedom .
For Stevens ' character , Frank , he pick out to number in with slick down back hair and glasses , the former because he and the directors were always geeking out about their making love ofI mean You Should Leave with Tim Robinsonand in especial , the"slicked back hair " sketch . On paper , Frank was intend to be an Italian - American in his 70s . For star Melissa Barrera who plays Joey , she developed the real name of Ana Lucia Cruz for the role . “I wanted it to be a extension to Dracula , to Lucy,“Barrera tell us . “I named her Ana Lucia and Cruz as in cross , something that would belt down a vampire , that protect you from the vampire . So that ended up being her name . "
" Angus Cloud is a another sodding lesson of this . He is was such a singular human being being and so specifically himself , " Matt Bettinelli - Olpin tells us of howCloud , who tragically passed awayjust week after we meet him on solidification , helped inspire them and the cast to embrace the personality they could bring to each eccentric . For Kathryn Newton , she come in having added tattoo and , with the director , decide to tot up even more around her hacker kit as Joey , a character who she describes as"nicest individual in the movie . "
Exploring Abigail’s Hunting Ground
The scene we were able-bodied to witness being apparatus and shoot over our two Day on theAbigailset involve the crew meeting Giancarlo Esposito ’s theatrical role after successfully kidnapping their object . Esposito dally the cryptical Lambert who sign on the gang for the job and give them their " Rat Pack " code name , instructing them to keep their veridical identities secret , even aim their phones .
Lambert ’s ( Giancarlo Esposito ) Rat Pack
worker
Tyler Gillett directs Kevin Durand and Alisha Weir in a scene from Abigail
Frank
Dan Stevens
Joey
Melissa Barrera
Sammy
Kathryn Newton
Abigail is a 2024 horror thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The plot follows a group of people who kidnap the daughter of a dangerous crime lord only to discover that the little girl is actually a vicious vampire out for blood. Alisha Weir stars as the titular character alongside Kathryn Newton, Melissa Barrera, and Dan Stevens.
Peter
Kevin Durand
Rickles
William Catlett
Dean
Angus Cloud
As theAbigailtrailersreveal , the heist element of the story quickly flick into a setup for Abigail to reveal her dependable self , layer of dentition and all . As we explored the Glenmaroon House , beginning with the impressive exalted entry , we could n’t help but notice the sheer volume of hart antler everywhere . The product added a hart statue outside too . Even the chandeliers were made of antlers , while the walls , rail , and shelves were heavy on the skull and taxidermy interior decoration .
To the right of the primary entry is a large way with a bar and billiards board , where the role in the celluloid will socialize and meet each other in their first hours while " babysitting " Abigail . On the other side of the main stairway , we took a long walk through corridors , noting many other stairway scattered throughout the house . We crossed a little bridge that was very rundown and came across what appeared to be a breakfast room connected to an orangery . The production designers made this greenhouse area far more dark for use in the film where a key sequence toy out .
Abigail Brings the Gore to Another Level Alongside The Fun
After that , we confab a secondary kitchen ( depict above before it was transformed by theAbigailproduction ) where we were separate that servants would do work , and it was filled with line and guts , everywhere . It serves another purpose in the movie as you will learn but let me recount you about how the entire floor was basically a puddle of dark red with human organs pepper around . The same for the walls and ceiling . It was very sticky .
later on we went upstairs to tour some more , including seeing Abigail ’s bedchamber and another room where she perform a dancing , the type only a vampire could do . On the monitor in another room , we posture with producer Ron Lynch and see Radio Silence do what they do best as they scud a chronological sequence where Melissa Barrera ’s Joey ascended some stairs by herself , syringe in hand , hoping to find and sedate Abigail . You ’ll have to await to see how that plays out …
During our two solar day on the Abigail set we met all of the cast except for Alisha Weir but since we had limited time with most , and since the directors were busy shooting with the full ensemble , we ’ve participated in a serial publication of longer conversations with everyone in late week to talk about the trip and the picture since it ’s been completed .
Exploring the solidifying it became obvious what the manager meant when teasing thatAbigailgoes right smart further than 2019’sReady or Notdid on the gore front . “It unquestionably was n’t accidental,“Tyler Gillett separate us when we caught up a few weeks ago to talk about the plant visit and film . He continues :
I think that we always want to gainsay ourselves and retrieve new way to traumatize and entertain ourselves . I ’m croak to sort of pare it back to like , just who our giant is . Because you have this 13 year - old lamia at the nub of this movie , it felt to us that it just meant we could go harder and more uttermost and have more fun with the gore and the violence because you have her as a new girl , as the other guard rails . And the further away those thing get for us , the more fun and absurd the tonicity of the picture gets . And the more sport and absurd it gets , the more your characters have to sort of interact with and respond to . Knowing that there are certain sequences that feel a little spot inspired by some of our other work that maybe we did n’t have this sort of time or budget to do , right , we unquestionably are kind of revisiting some fun thing in this movie in bigger and more extraordinary ways . But it have pretty wild . I imply , there were day on set where you could n’t like take the air anywhere , because it was just a battue . And that for us is tiptop fun . You work up these incredibly elaborate exercise set . And then by the end of the shoot , it ’s like wow , what a what a crazy shift .
The above quote from Tyler Gillett hits all the keywords that adept delineate what Universal Pictures is looking for from Project X Entertainment and Radio Silence withAbigail : Absurd , entertaining , extreme , fun , savage . ideate the last twoScreammovies andReady or Not , but with more exemption for the directors , an all - star cast in an awe-inspiring location , and the imagination to do more of what they want while letting the dramatis personae do the same ? That’sAbigail .
Abigailis only in field April 19th . Tickets on sale now .
Your Rating
Your comment has not been save
Cast
Abigail is a 2024 repugnance thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli - Olpin and Tyler Gillett . The plot watch over a mathematical group of people who kidnap the girl of a grave offense lord only to let on that the slight girlfriend is actually a reprehensible vampire out for blood . Alisha Weir star as the titular character alongside Kathryn Newton , Melissa Barrera , and Dan Stevens .
Glenmaroon House photos allow with permission byBCD URBEX . Additional photography byRob Keyes . Trip was organized byUniversal Pictures .
