Director Zak Hilditch, known for his work on the Stephen King adaptation “1922,” is gearing up for his next project, a survival thriller titled “We Bury the Dead.” The film has just secured Daisy Ridley, renowned for her role in the “Star Wars” franchise, as its star.

“We Bury the Dead” delves into a story centered on grief, loss, and the supernatural. Ridley will portray Ava, a woman desperately searching for her missing husband in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. In her quest to find him, Ava becomes part of a body retrieval unit. However, her mission takes a chilling turn when the corpses she is tasked with burying start displaying signs of life.

Filming for this intriguing project is scheduled to commence in February 2024 in Western Australia.

Zak Hilditch is both the writer and director of “We Bury the Dead.” The film is produced by Kelvin Munro and Grant Sputore from The Penguin Empire, along with Ross Dinerstein of Campfire Studios. Co-production credits go to Gramercy Park Media, with Joshua Harris and Mark Fasano as producers, and Nathan Klingher and Ford Corbett serving as executive producers.

Grant Sputore expressed his excitement about the collaboration, stating, “We’re thrilled to join forces with Zak and Campfire on this project. Zak is uniquely gifted when it comes to making movies that are just as moving as they are terrifying. Bringing one of his projects to our home state of Western Australia is especially exciting.”

Ross Dinerstein added, “Zak is an immensely talented storyteller, and we’re ecstatic to reteam for our third feature together. With the brilliant Daisy Ridley onboard and Zak’s spectacularly unnerving and poignant script, we can’t wait to dig into production and bring this film to audiences.”

Hilditch himself expressed his enthusiasm for Daisy Ridley’s involvement, saying, “Having Daisy play the role of Ava is an absolute dream come true. She embodies the perfect mix of vulnerability, grit, and determination that Ava exudes throughout the film.”