Pinewood is to invest in its first film in 23 years, the "psycho-comedy" A Fantastic Fear of Everything, starring Simon Pegg.
Pinewood Studios Group will invest via Pinewood Films, a new initiative for small-budget independent British films that hopes to finance four films a year with production budgets of around £2m. It's the first time the company has put money into a feature since 1988's Hawks, which was shot at Pinewood Studios.
A Fantastic Fear of Everything sees Pegg play a children's author turned crime novelist, whose detailed research into the lives of Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck, persecuted by an irrational fear of being murdered.
"When a mysterious Hollywood executive takes a sudden and inexplicable interest in his script, what should be his 'big break' rapidly turns into his 'big breakdown'," reads the studio synopsis. "Jack is forced to confront his worst demons; among them his love life, his laundry and the origin of all fear."
The film is written and directed by musician-turned-filmmaker Crispian Mills, marking his feature debut. Music video and animation specialist Chris Hopewell, whose award-winning work includes promos for Radiohead's There There and The Killers' Smile Like You Mean It, will take a co-director's credit. The film's cast also features newcomer Alan Drake, The Darjeeling Limited's Amara Karan and Legally Blonde the Musical's Sheridan Smith.
