Academy Award nominee Bill Nighy (Living, About Time) is the latest star to join Ascension, Apple TV+'s new horror-thriller from Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men).
Nighy joins previously announced lead Catríona Balfe (Outlander) in the new series, inspired by Adam Nevill’s novel Last Days.
Showrun by Saccharine director Natalie Erika James and Christian White, who will write the series alongside Cuarón and his brother Carlos, an official logline for Ascension reads:
The one-hour psychological horror thriller follows Rose (Balfe), a relentless documentary filmmaker and recently divorced mother, brilliant at uncovering others’ truths but struggling to resolve her own. When Rose begins a project on a mysterious 20th-century cult known as the Church of Ascension, she finds unexpected refuge in its teachings – until she discovers something far more insidious beneath.
According to Deadline, Nighy joins the series in a regular role and will play Zac, a documentarian who hires Rose to work with him on a new project.
James will serve as lead director on the series, which Cuarón produces under his Esperanto Filmoj banner, as a part of his overall deal with Apple. The series is a follow-up to the Oscar winner’s acclaimed Apple TV series Disclaimer, which starred Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. The series is also produced by James and White alongside Gabriela Rodriguez, Richard Schwartz, Carlos Cuarón, Steve Golin, David Levine, and Zack Hayden.
Ascension marks Nighy's return to horror following his role as Cardinal Lawrence in Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen, and in Prime Video's British horror-thriller series Lazarus. Horror fans will of course know him as the cranky stepfather of Simon Pegg's titular slacker in Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead.
No release date has been set for Ascension. Stay tuned to FANGORIA for more updates.
