Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter to make directorial debut with Netflix's This Beast

Kurt Sutter, best known for Sons of Anarchy and Mayans MC, is set to make his feature directorial debut with the drama titled This Beast. The film set up at Netflix will be produced by Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions, known for horror films including Paranormal Activity and The Invisible Man. According to Deadline, Sutter will also write and produce the feature set in an 18th century English village that is besieged by a mysterious and elusive beast. The logline of the film reads: “Dozens of innocents are slaughtered and the mayhem is driven to puritanical heights by religious fanaticism. The impossible task of killing the beast falls to a lowly trapper who promises he can stop the carnage. But for him this hunt is not a professional mission, it’s a deeply personal one.” The idea was inspired by The Beast of Gevaudan, a true story about a mysterious beast that terrorised a French village in the 1760s, the makers said. Sutter said his sensibilities align perfectly with that of Blumhouse, thus making This Beast a “perfect project” for that marriage. “Bringing my disturbing, familial story sensibility into the Blumhouse world just seemed like something that had to happen… And Netflix is the perfect venue for that bloody ceremony,” the director said. “We’ve long been fans of Kurt and his unparalleled storytelling — that’s both visceral and packs an emotional punch. We’re excited that Blumhouse is producing his first feature for Netflix,” added Blum. Carla Hacken, best known for producing the critically acclaimed film Hell or High Water, will also back the film under her Paper Pictures banner. Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold are attached to executive produce the movie for Blumhouse Television.