A24 Brings Poe’s ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ to Life with Léa Seydoux and Mikey Madison

A24 is conjuring a new nightmare from Edgar Allan Poe with Léa Seydoux (No Time to Die, Blue Is the Warmest Color) joining Mikey Madison (Scream 2022, Anora) in The Masque of the Red Death, reports THR.

Written and directed by Charlie Polinger (The Plague), this “wildly revisionist and darkly comedic” take on Poe’s 1842 gothic horror classic promises decadence, blood, and chaos.

Madison will take on dual roles as long-lost twin sisters in a story where a mad prince secludes the nobility in his castle while a deadly plague ravages the lower class. Hidden among the peasants, the twins infiltrate the castle, diving headfirst into a world of orgies, opium, power struggles, revenge, and decapitations.

Seydoux plays a cunning lady-in-waiting scheming her way to the top, ensuring treachery and manipulation run rampant alongside the horror.

“It’s definitely more in a dark comedy world,” Polinger told Bloody Disgusting. “It has a much more maximalist tone but explores some similar things [as The Plague] on a very basic level, like group dynamics within a claustrophobic space.”

The film is produced by Julia Hammer and Erik Feig for Picturestart, with James Presson and Lucy McKendrick also producing, and Polinger executive producing.

The Masque of the Red Death is set to enter production in Hungary this February, promising a lavishly twisted plunge into gothic horror like only A24 can deliver.