BOLLYWOOD STAR KANGANA RANAUT TO HEADLINE FIRST HOLLYWOOD FEATURE WITH HORROR DRAMA ‘BLESSED BE THE EVIL’
TYLER POSEY AND SCARLET ROSE STALLONE WILL CO-STAR
Principal Photography to Start This Summer
Award-winning Bollywood superstar Kangana Ranaut (Emergency, Queen, Fashion) is set to star in the new horror-drama Blessed Be The Evil, marking Ranaut’s first lead in a Hollywood mainstream feature. Inspired by true Indian folklore, the film will co-star Tyler Posey (“Teen Wolf,” Truth or Dare) and Scarlet Rose Stallone (Gunslingers, “Tulsa King”). The announcement came today from Gatha Tiwary, President and Founder of Lions Movies. Producers are meeting with sales executives and worldwide buyers to present the film at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.
Anurag Rudra (New Me, Tailing Pond) will direct from a screenplay written by Rudra and Tiwary, who will both also produce. Casting is by Lisa London and Catherine Stroud of London/Stroud Casting. Award-winning cinematographer Wade Muller (Millennium Films’ Elephant White, and Saban Films’ Occupation: Rainfall) is confirmed as Director of Photography.
The production has made the decision to shoot in the U.S. to avoid running into any uncertainties stemming from the recently announced Trump industry tariffs. Filming will begin this summer in New York.
Blessed Be The Evil synopsis reads: After a devastating miscarriage, a Christian couple tries to move forward by buying an abandoned farm with a dark past. Soon their love and faith are tested by a malevolent presence.
“Being born and spending my childhood in rural India, I was told stories that got embedded in my mind and heart,” said Rudra. “This folklore was so special that I truly believed in all the stories, and wanted to showcase them internationally through the art of cinema – the strongest and most beautiful way to connect to dreams and reality.”
“A story like Blessed Be The Evil is very rare. Lions Movies has developed a spine-chilling narrative with unprecedented suspense and drama,” commented Tiwary. “It also has great potential for international markets, both in streaming and selling.”
Kangana Ranaut is a multi-award winning renowned Indian actress, filmmaker, and politician, best known for portraying strong, unconventional female characters in Hindi cinema. Ranaut gained critical acclaim for her roles in Fashion, Queen and Tanu Weds Manu Returns, with the latter two securing her consecutive National Film Awards for Best Actress. Ranaut wrote, directed and produced the period drama, Emergency, in which she portrays Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and is set during one of the most controversial periods of post-Independence Indian history. The film received a worldwide theatrical release in January 2025. Ranaut has received multiple awards including four National Film Awards (India’s equivalent of the Academy Award), and four Filmfare Awards, honouring artistic and technical excellence in Indian cinema, among other numerous accolades. In 2020, Kangana was honoured with the ‘Padma Shri,’ India’s fourth-highest civilian award, for her contributions to the arts. Beyond her film career, Ranaut serves as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha in India, entering office as a first-time member in 2024.
Tyler Posey’s breakout role came as the lead Scott McCall on MTV’s “Teen Wolf,” which earned him several Teen Choice and ALMA Awards, and its revival film – Teen Wolf: The Movie, which Posey also produced. Additional credits include the slasher-horror Truth or Dare, co-starring Lucy Hale, The CW’s smash hit series “Jane the Virgin” starring Gina Rodriguez and Justin Baldoni, and Maid in Manhattan, starring Ralph Fiennes and Jennifer Lopez.
Scarlet Rose Stallone is an actress and reality star, and the youngest daughter of Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin. Stallone made her film debut in the crime comedy Reach Me, starring Sylvester Stallone and Kyra Sedgwick, and has since appeared in various films and TV shows, including The Gunslingers, starring Nicolas Cage, Heather Graham and Stephen Dorff, Taylor Sheridan’s (“Yellowstone”) series “Tulsa King,” and Paramount+’s reality series “The Family Stallone.”
Writer/Director/Producer Anurag Rudra produced the documentary short Tailing Pond, which was narrated by Emmy Award winner Cynthia Nixon, and qualified for the 93rd Academy Awards for Documentary – Short category. Rudra’s directorial debut, the horror-thriller New Me, screened at the Cannes Marché du Film in 2022.
Posey is repped by Independent Artist Group, Luber Roklin Entertainment, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher; Stallone is repped by Independent Artist Group and Untitled Entertainment. Robert Benun of BenunLaw negotiated the deals on behalf of the production.
ABOUT LIONS MOVIES
Lions Movies is a leading global entertainment company formed with the vision to spread the colors of diversity, culture, humanity and bring every emotion and experience into one laudable frame. With Hollywood being the biggest industry in entertainment, the company intends to glorify the experience of watching movies by diversifying the audience and content. Lions Movies’ next project is American Import, a crime drama exploring the depths of family bonds, sibling rivalry, success, corruption and toxic grip of greed.
