For the bulk of 2023 so far, Yellowstone fans have been dealing with a revolving door of problematic behind-the-scenes reports coming out of the proverbial rumor mill, though with the relatively recent guarantee that the hit western will return to production in order for the rest of its fifth and final season to be filmed ahead of a November premiere date. (Which will precede the confirmed sequel spinoff that may or may not be headed up by Matthew McConaughey.) It’s still unclear when that’ll actually happen, and possibly making things even more confusing is the fact that star Kelsey Asbille is taking a sharp left turn away from westerns in order to film a freaky new movie alongside an American Horror Story star.
As fans wait to see what fate’s plans are for her character Monica Dutton, Kelsey Asbille is set to star in a new genre feature from Sam Raimi’s Raimi Productions, with the horror filmmaker currently celebrating the continued box office success of Evil Dead Rise. The new project, which is titled Don’t Move, will team the actress up with one of Ryan Murphy’s go-to TV stars, American Horror Story regular Finn Wittrock.
While it sounds like it will be a fairly small production without a lot of room for bells, whistles and delays, the production is set to take place in Europe starting in June, according to THR. Which would feasibly mean that Asbille will not be filming Yellowstone episodes in Montana during that time. So does that mean the TV production won’t kick off until July or later, making the November debut on Paramount Network harder to hit? Or will it end up getting delayed altogether due to the WGA writers strike?
It’s hard to say at this point, but horror fans should be enthused all the same. Don’t Move will star Kelsey Asbille as a grieving woman who is injected with a paralytic substance by a hardened killer, presumably played by Wittrock. In order to stay alive, she has to run, fight and avoid her attacker ahead of her body shutting down completely. It sounds pretty much on par with all the stressful situations that happen at the Duttons’ ranch, albeit with more running.
Don’t Move is set to be directed by Adam Schindler and Brian Netto, who wrote and helmed the three-part “Grey Cloud Island” entry from Sam Raimi’s short-form horror anthology 50 States of Fright. Schindler’s only other feature was 2015’s Intruders, which starred Rory Culkin. (Fun quasi-connection: Finn Wittrock’s most recent season of AHS, Double Feature, marked one of the only TV regular roles for Macaulay Culkin.) That film’s screenwriters, T.J. Cimfel and David White, also penned the screenplay for Don’t Move.
For further horror move cred, the new project will also boast Alex Lebovici as an executive producer through his Hammerstone Studios. He produced the mind-boggling hit Barbarian last year, and he's also set to work with video game legend Hideo Kojima on a film adaptation of Death Stranding.
Despite one of her earliest roles being in the horror short Found Footage, not to mention her time as Teen Wolf's Tracy Stewart, Kelsey Asbille has spent recent years in more grounded-ish non-genre projects such as Wind River (also with Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan), Fargo and Gaslight, in which she reprised the role she voiced in the original podcast.
Now let's start imagining this project leading Finn Wittrock to join the Yellowstone-verse in some capacity. Or that Taylor Sheridan will craft a horror spinoff at some point. Not that it could be more frightening than what's happened in 1923 so far, but still.
