Pope's Exorcist director Julius Avery is directing real time python horror Crush
Horror filmmaker Julius Avery is reportedly at the helm of the upcoming snake-survival thriller.
Julius Avery is reportedly at the helm of new snake-survival thriller Crush.
The filmmaker, who is known for his work on the likes of The Pope's Exorcist and Overland, will be directing the upcoming horror from 20th Century Studios.
As reported by Deadline, Avery is now attached to the project, in what is the first major development for Crush since the studio snapped up the rights in late 2025.
The official logline is being kept under wraps, but sources told the outlet that the movie is inspired by true events, and will mainly be told in real time.
According to insider, the film will follow a woman who is hiking alone in the Everglades when she awakens to find herself caught in the coils of a huge python.
She is left fighting for her life, knowing that each breath is making her situation bleaker.
Temple Hill executive John Fischer penned the spec under the pseudonym J.W. Archer, and the studio have got involved as producers while giving him their blessing to explore his creative ambitions.
Temple Hill's Mary Bowen and Wyck Godfrey previously told Deadline: "Needless to say, it was quite a surprise when John walked into our office and told us he had written a script on the weekends in Spain while working on one of our movies.
“We went from being terrified about how to come up with nice things to say when he asked us to read it to elated that it was a thrill ride of a movie that we wanted to produce.
"We can’t wait to abuse him with pages and pages of notes as we move this into production.”
Australian filmmaker Avery's first time directing a movie was 2014's Son of a Gun, which he also wrote, and he followed that up in 2018 with alternate history horror Overland.
In 2022, Avery dropped gritty superhero film Samaritan, which was released on Prime Video, and the following year he released The Pope's Exorcist, starring Russell Crowe as Father Gabriele Amorth.
A sequel was greenlit in 2024, as revealed by producer Jeff Katz, although there have been no major developments since then.
