Lee Cronin, Irish filmmaker, signs first-look deal with New Line Cinema under new production company DOPPELGÄNGERS

Lee Cronin, the Irish filmmaker whose work includes the box office hit Evil Dead Rise and Sundance favourite The Hole in the Ground, is joining forces with his long-standing partners Wild Atlantic Pictures’ John Keville and Macdara Kelleher (The Green Knight, Cocaine Bear) on a new production outfit – Doppelgängers.

The newly launched company has signed a first-look deal with New Line Cinema for feature film projects on the back of the 2023 box office success of Evil Dead Rise, which grossed $147m worldwide, and are currently in development on the upcoming horror-thriller Thaw.

Under the Doppelgängers banner, they will develop genre-focused feature film and television projects for Cronin to write, direct and produce alongside Keville and Kelleher.

“Doppelgängers has been born out of an ever-evolving relationship with John Keville and Macdara Kelleher, both of whom have been incredible partners and creative collaborators.  Aligned in our hunger and ambition to create striking stories for wide audiences, we decided to seize the opportunity to formalise our partnership with this new venture,” said Cronin.  “Following a wonderful journey working on Evil Dead Rise, the brilliant team at New Line Cinema have offered us the perfect home for the movies we want to bring to life on the big screen.  We couldn’t be more thrilled to continue building our relationship with them.”

Keville and Kelleher added, “Lee Cronin is one of the most exciting auteur filmmakers working in the genre space with a proven box office track record. Lee is an inventive creator who always strives to engage audiences with his character driven stories.   We are thrilled to be building Doppelgängers around his vision and are excited to forge relationships with the most ambitious writers and directors.  Collectively, we want Doppelgängers to become a destination for the very best storytellers.”

Cronin and Doppelgängers are represented by CAA, MGMT and attorney Jeff Hynick.