Chris Pine and Sofia Boutella Hunted by a Himalayan Legend in New Yeti Survival Thriller

Chris Pine and Sofia Boutella lead Yeti, a Netflix survival thriller from director Michael Chaves, as more cast join the trek into an icy nightmare.

Michael Chaves is stepping out of his haunted-house lane and into the snow. The filmmaker behind several Conjuring entries is making a creature survival thriller called Yeti, and casting is officially underway. Chris Pine and Sofia Boutella are on board. Yes, Pine vs something nasty in the Alps. I am listening.

What the movie is

Set deep in the Alps, an avalanche cracks open the glacial ice and wakes up something old and mean. Cut off from help, a father and his daughter try to outlast a predator that practically disappears into the whiteout. Pine plays the dad; rising newcomer Iona Bell (The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping) is the daughter. Ray Winstone is in the mix too. Boutella and Winstone’s roles are being kept quiet for now, which usually means they’re fun.

How it landed where it landed

Yeti started life a couple years back at Sony with Picturestart, sparked by producer Jon Silk’s first-look deal. Since then, Silk moved into a film exec role at Netflix, and the project followed him over. Picturestart stayed attached. Translation: studio shift, same ambition.

Who’s making it (and who’s in it)

• Director: Michael Chaves (feature debut The Curse of La Llorona; then The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Nun II, and The Conjuring: Last Rites)
• Writers: Peter Gaffney and Sean Tretta
• Cast: Chris Pine (as the father), Iona Bell (as the daughter), Sofia Boutella, Ray Winstone
• Producers: Picturestart’s Erik Feig and Jessica Switch, alongside Dan Kagan
• Executive producers: Hans Ritter and Chris Pine
• Home: Netflix (after originating at Sony during Jon Silk’s first-look period)

Why this could work

Chaves knows how to build dread, and a snowbound monster that can vanish into the landscape is a clean, mean premise. Also, this is his first feature outside the Conjuring orbit, so there’s a chance to see a different gear from him. If you were expecting a 90s-style action throwdown in a fur coat, this is not that. But Pine squaring off against a whiteout boogeyman? That could be nasty in the best way.

For the timeline watchers: about eleven months ago, Chaves signed on to do this as his first non-Conjuring project. Now the cast is assembling, the pieces are locked at Netflix, and the snow is starting to look hungry.