Netflix ‘Baby’ Director Andrea De Sica to Helm Horror Film (EXCLUSIVE)

Italian director Andrea De Sica, who has been helming the bulk of Netflix teen series “Baby,” is set to shoot a horror film based on a bestselling Gothic novel, “Non Mi Uccidere,” geared towards the same youth demographic as the show. 

The book – written by late cult author Chiara Palazzolo, with a title that translates as “Don’t Kill Me” – is about a 19-year-old named Mirta, who, with her older lover, Robin, dies of a drug overdose. She then resuscitates alone to find out that in order to continue living, and cherishing the memory of Robin’s love, she must eat living humans.

Prior to directing “Baby,” which is about teen prostitution in Rome, De Sica made his directorial debut with “Children of the Night,” a coming-of-age story, set at an upper-crust boarding school, that flirted with horror elements. 

De Sica described “Uccidere” as “not a full-fledged horror film but more a strange coming-of-age” tale and said he sees it “as the romantic and scary story of a young woman who dies and then resuscitates for love.”

De Sica, 37, has been working on the “Uccidere” screenplay with the same collective of young Italian screenwriters, called The Grams, who created “Baby.” Veteran Italian writer and producer Gianni Romoli, who acquired rights to the book, which is part of a trilogy, is also a member of the writing team.

Casting is still being decided.

“Non Mi Uccidere” is being produced by Rome indie Vivo Film, the shingle behind festival circuit standouts such as Laura Bispuri’s “Sworn Virgin,” Susanna Nicchiarelli’s “Nico, 1988” and Abel Ferrara’s upcoming “Siberia.”

“I want to lead them [Vivo Film] towards making more mainstream movies,” said De Sica, whose grandfather Vittorio De Sica was a four-time Oscar winner and leading figure of the Italian neo-realist movement, behind such classics as “The Bicycle Thief” and “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” 

The plan is to start shooting “Non Uccidere” next spring. Distribution talks are underway.

De Sica’s ambition is to get a 2020 Halloween slot for the film’s theatrical release in Italy. “I want to capture the same young audience segment that watches ‘Baby’ and bring them into movie theaters,” he said.

Netflix will drop the second season of “Baby” on Oct. 18. The first season was seen in 10 million subscriber households globally in its first month, according to figures released by the streamer.

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