The Turning is an upcoming horror film based on the 1898 novel by Henry James, The Turn of the Screw. This film is a 1990s retelling of the tale.
Though January is considered to be a hit or miss month for new releases, horror movies tend to do better than others released during this time. By most distributors' standards, January and February are known as "dump months," which means that films that either didn't perform as well with test audiences, don't have big name stars attached, or genre films like horror movies tend to all be rapidly released during these months, as they couldn't get a different slot elsewhere in the calendar year.
The Turning shares a story with Mike Flanagan's upcoming Netflix series, The Haunting of Bly Manor, which is the second season of Flanagan's anthology ghost series; the first season was The Haunting of Hill House, and did incredibly well with critics and audiences. The Turning contributes to a burgeoning revival of the haunted house sub-genre of horror, which was partially brought back to life by Flanagan's series, though it remains to be seen which of these two adaptations will produce the better end product of James' original story.
When Will The Turning Release?
The Turning is slated for release on January 24, 2020. Production for the film began in 2016, as Haunted, with director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo at the helm. Steven Spielberg wanted to return to horror, and helped the project get started, considering it to be a passion project for him. Because of this, Amblin Entertainment got involved and is one of the production companies associated with the film along with Dreamworks Pictures and Vertigo Entertainment. In September 2016, five weeks before the production was set to start, Spielberg pulled the plug on the project after a one-page rewrite by Scott Z. Burns changed the story significantly and was no longer the project the studio signed on to do.
Spielberg and Dreamworks fired Fresnadillo and Burns, then started fresh even though they'd already spent $5 million of the project's $17 million budget. In August 2017, Floria Sigismondi (The Handmaid's Tale) signed on to direct Haunted, which was then renamed The Turning. Filming for The Turning began in February 2018 in Ireland, and Spielberg was present and oversaw the filming and production. Principal photography was completed April 6, 2018. The film was originally scheduled to be released on February 22, 2019, but was removed from Universal's release schedule in September 2018.
The Turning Cast Information
The Turning stars Mackenzie Davis as Kate (Black Mirror) Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) as Miles, and Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project) as Flora. Henry James' novel, The Turn of the Screw follows a nanny who is tasked with the care of two peculiar orphan children in their home. From there, nothing is as it initially appears and the nanny discovers both the house and the children have dark secrets. Davis is playing Kate, the nanny, and Wolfhard and Prince are the two orphan children.
What Is The Turning's Story About?
Those familiar with James' novel will already likely know a few of the finer points and secrets surrounding The Turning, however, much of the film's plot beyond the basic premise of the novel has been left a mystery. In the original novel, much is left vague as well regarding whether the nanny encounters genuine supernatural experiences, or if she's gone mad. However, the basic structure of the plot involves her caring for the mysterious, orphaned children at a large, stately manor in Maine. According to Sigismondi, "It's a very dark story that has endured for over a hundred years. We've taken this story and modernized it and placed it in the 1990s. I just wanted to take away the technology and really drown yourself in the environment." The trailer portrays this spooky, atmospheric environment very well, which cements the fact that The Turning seems to be a properly adapted ghost story for a modern audience.
