Lee Cronin, the hot Irish writer-director behind the horror films The Hole in the Ground, Evil Dead Rise and the upcoming reboot of The Mummy, has been tapped for an Oscar Wilde Award.
The salute will take place March 12 (three days before the Academy Awards) at the Ebell theater in Los Angeles, where the Oscar Wilde Awards will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The party, organized by the US-Ireland Alliance, praises folks from Ireland — and some who are not — who contribute to film, television and music.
Maura Tierney and Domhnall Gleeson were previously announced as honorees, and Irish singer Dave Lofts will perform.
Raised in the seaside town of Skerries, just outside Dublin, Cronin, 43, said he aspired to become a fisherman, a clown and a Ghostbuster. Watching classic genre films made him realize that moviemaking ticked all three boxes.
After writing and directing several horror-themed short films, Cronin made his feature debut with the spooky The Hole in the Ground, which was acquired by A24 and DirecTV ahead of its premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
Cronin then followed with Evil Dead Rise, which bowed at SXSW in 2023 and raked in $147 million on a $19 million budget for New Line as the fifth installment — and highest-grossing film — in the franchise. That got him the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for best director.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, from James Wan’s Atomic Monster, Jason Blum’s Blumhouse and New Line — where his production company Wicked/Good (formerly Doppelgängers) has a first-look deal — will be released worldwide April 17.
“This will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before,” he told THR in December 2024. “I’m digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening.” Irish actor Jack Reynor stars.
“Lee’s trajectory is impressive,” US-Ireland Alliance president Trina Vargo noted in a statement. “And to have his name precede the title of the film, that’s a rarity for any director.”
Northern Ireland Screen and Screen Ireland are among the major sponsors at the Oscar Wilde Awards.
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