Jovanka Vickovic
Things are going to move quickly for the next film to adapt a work by Clive Barker with an expected late 2014 production start for Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament. The news landed this morning that the story, part of the second of his Books of Blood series that was released back in 1984-85, has added a director in Jovanka Vuckovic and a lead actress in the form of Lena Headey. Heady is on an upswing to be sure with ongoing strong and engaging performances in Game of Thrones as well as the recent Dredd and 300: Rise of an Empire roles. For Vuckovic, this is certainly welcome news as she recently was announced as part of an all-female horror anthology film that she’ll be working on as well.
According to Clive Barker, “Jovanka Vuckovic’s vision for Jacqueline Ess is at once devastating and beautiful,” he said. “Let there be no question: this is the film she was born to make.”
Vuckovic added, “I have coveted Jacqueline Ess for many years. And for as many years, I have imagined Lena Headey in the role, so I am absolutely thrilled that she and I will be teaming up to bring Clive’s phantasmagoric, feminist body horror story to life onscreen.”
Plot concept: Jacqueline Ess is a housewife who attempts suicide after becoming bored with her life. She recovers only to find that she has an ability to change people’s body shapes simply with her mind. She accidentally kills her therapist and then – somewhat less accidentally – kills her husband, simply by willing their bodies into tearing apart or folding in on themselves. One man becomes obsessed with her and tracks her down.
[Source: Twitch]