News today that Veronica Cartwright (The Birds, Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Witches of Eastwick) will take the lead in Quentin Lee's upcoming supernatural thriller and biopic How to Talk With Spirits.
She will be playing the role of June Ahern, a real life psychic from San Francisco and author of the boook by the same name. In the book a retired San Franciscan psychic helps the SF police solve the murder of her client who is haunted by the spirit of her murdered daughter.
Cartwright joins Julia Nickson, Michael Copon and Jennifer Field in the lead roles. Production is expected to begin next Summer.
The full press release follows.
Multiple Emmy nominee and veteran actress Veronica Cartwright (The Birds, Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Witches of Eastwick) is attached to play real life psychic June Ahern in Quentin Lee’s upcoming supernatural thriller and biopic titled How to Talk with Spirits, based on June Ahern’s life and book of the same title.Veteran Asian American actress Julia Nickson (Noble House, China Cry, Rambo) is attached to play Yuko Tanaka, June’s client. Michael Copon (One Tree Hill, Scorpion King 2) is attached to play local indie filmmaker Matt. Jennifer Field (Artificial, 9-1-1) is attached to play Elaine Tanaka-Chandler, Yuko’s murdered daughter.Based on June Ahern’s true life and book of the same title, How to Talk with Spirits, set in San Francisco, is about a retired psychic helping the San Francisco police solve the murder of her client’s daughter whose ghost relentlessly haunts her.“ Quentin Lee’s film will show how a person with developed psychic abilities can be a helpful, healing force in the case of murder. The film reveals how justice is served through communication with a victim's spirit. This powerful message is sure to be conveyed by Ms. Veronica Cartwright's performance.” said June Ahern, a retired San Francisco psychic and author of three books including How to Talk with Spirits.“I’m very excited to be playing June Ahern. Having spoken to June, who is alive and well, she told me it's not just that she saw the incident, but she felt the emotion of the the person that was murdered and embodied those emotions. I’m looking forward to the challenge. I am also looking forward to working with Quentin Lee as he has a real insight into this living person.” said Veronica Cartwright.“I’m really thrilled to be crafting this untold story with Veronica Cartwright, a heartthrob of my favorite movies such as Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers that I grew up with,” said Quentin Lee who will be directing and producing the feature based on his own original screenplay. “How to Talk with Spirits is a rare movie where a senior female protagonist takes center stage and I believe the film will give Veronica her long due respect in Hollywood.”How to Talk with Spirits is scheduled to be lensed late summer 2021 after Lee has completed shooting Son of Smiley, the half-hour bittersweet Canuck comedy television series, starring Canadian comedian Ed Hill, Asian mega pop star Edison Chen, Nadia Hatta (Netflix’s Away), Steph Song (Roger’s Blood and Water) and comedian Kim McVicar, that he’s co-creating, directing and co-writing. Son of Smiley is scheduled for principal photography starting May 4 in Vancouver, Canada, produced by Holiday Pictures.