ScreamWire Daily

Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride opened to a disastrous $7.3M domestic weekend against a reported $90M production budget, leaving Warner Bros. likely facing tens of millions in losses; Pixar's original Hoppers debuted strong with $46M on a $150M budget, while Scream 7 plunged 74% to $17.3M but has grossed $93.3M domestic/$149.4M global.

Diane Lane has closed to star opposite Scarlett Johansson and Jacobi Jupe in Mike Flanagan’s new Exorcist film; Flanagan wrote, will direct and produce via Red Room Pictures, with production in New York and Universal releasing March 12, 2027.

Blumhouse-Atomic Monster hired Shudder vet Sam Zimmerman as SVP, Development & Acquisitions to oversee a focused slate of emerging filmmakers and $2–8M films, formalizing cross-company development post-merger and emphasizing projects under $5M.

Jason Blum says Blumhouse—now merged with Atomic Monster—is shifting more toward recognizable horror IP while still aiming to preserve capacity for sub-$1M micro-budget originals and plans to continue a mixed slate of IP and originals.

Damien Leone says the Terrifier 4 script is nearly finished and he hopes to begin pre-production this spring; the filmmaker reiterates this will be the franchise’s final entry and will explore Art the Clown’s origins.

Screen Daily’s UK–Ireland box office roundup shows February 2026 at £82.2M (down 18% YoY); notable genre performance: Scream 7 opened with £5M (biggest franchise opening at £3.3M weekend) and could top £10M in-run, while other strong holds include Lionsgate’s The Housemaid.

Smile 3 is in development but franchise creator/director Parker Finn is reportedly unlikely to return to direct, per Jeff Sneider; note — Smile (2022) has previously grossed about $217M worldwide, underlining franchise commercial value.

Jason Blum used his PGA Milestone Award speech to champion independent producers, defend creative risk against algorithms and highlighted Blumhouse’s continued horror slate and merger with James Wan’s Atomic Monster as growth strategy.

An original 35mm uncut print of Christophe Gans’ 2006 Silent Hill has surfaced and is being scanned at the request of Gans and writer Roger Avary; this cut reportedly runs about 134 minutes and is said to be more violent than existing versions (the longer ~3-hour workprint remains missing).

Analysis argues Mike Flanagan is a strong candidate to adapt Stephen King’s The Dark Tower for TV but warns that 'Wizard and Glass' can’t be lifted verbatim — it must be interwoven nonlinearly to avoid stalling series momentum while preserving the novel’s essential story beats.

Tristan Barr’s Deathkeeper premiered at FrightFest Glasgow to mixed notices: reviewers praise its worldbuilding, prop/design and select set‑pieces but fault an overstuffed, incoherent plot and uneven performances despite some standout turns (Danny Brown, George Pullar).

Screen Daily lists updated UK–Ireland 2026 theatrical release dates, flagging genre entries including Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (Warner Bros), Evil Dead Burn (Studiocanal), Ready Or Not 2 and Orphan (Mubi) among other mainstream and indie titles scheduled through the year.

JoBlo's review praises Capcom’s new Resident Evil: Requiem as a strong, pacey entry that splits play between new protagonist Grace Ashcroft and series staple Leon S. Kennedy while retaining puzzle-based survival-horror roots and a standout villain performance (Antony Byrne).

It: Welcome to Derry (HBO Max) expands Stephen King's lore by depicting the Deadlights — the entity It's original, incomprehensible energy form from the macroverse — and explains how Pennywise and other monstrous masks are merely translations of that cosmic horror into shapes humans can perceive.

Sam Raimi says a creative clash with Dylan O’Brien over how dark Bradley should be on Send Help ended with O’Brien’s approach prevailing — the actor pushed the character further into awful territory and Raimi conceded it improved the film’s emotional pivot; film also stars Rachel McAdams and was written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift.

Bayview Entertainment schedules Dracula: Rise of the Vampire for March 2026; Dean Meadows wrote and directed the Hammer-inspired gothic horror featuring Eileen Daly, Tayah Kansik and Emma Fletcher as part of a modern homage to classic British horror.

Karl Urban says he'd happily return to Dredd and would 'in a heartbeat' reprise the role; reporting notes Taika Waititi and Drew Pearce have been linked to new Dredd projects, and the original 2012 film grossed roughly $41M worldwide against similar production figures.

JoBlo’s review of Dolly calls it a brutal, grindhouse-styled backwoods slasher with strong practical FX and a physical lead performance from Max the Impaler, but criticizes derivative elements and some absurd plotting; the film opens in theaters March 6, 2026.

Mick Garris' TV adaptation of Stephen King's Desperation — starring Ron Perlman as a Tak-possessed Sheriff and a strong ensemble including Henry Thomas and Annabeth Gish — is revisited as an uneven but earnest King's-adjacent TV movie that never quite overcame length and network limitations.

Corey Parker, who had a recurring TV role on Will & Grace and played Pete in the slasher sequel Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, died at 60 after a cancer diagnosis; he also worked as an acting instructor and had recent TV credits including Sun Records and Ms. Marvel.

Screen Daily reports SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP have extended contract talks for another week under a mutual media blackout, with WGA talks due to start March 16 and DGA talks scheduled for May — an extension that buys time but keeps strike risk on the calendar.

Pixar is developing Monsters, Inc. 3 while scheduling Incredibles 3 for 2028 and a Coco sequel for 2029; the profile also notes Pixar's upcoming original feature slate and that Monsters, Inc. remains a lucrative IP after the original grossed $528.7M worldwide.

Robert Downey Jr. is playing Doctor Doom in upcoming MCU Avengers events, and comics precedent (Earth-11029 and Bendis/Maleev's Infamous Iron Man) gives credence to Doom-as-Tony-Stark-variant theories — a potential creative device to explain Downey's casting and allow later actor swaps.

Character actor and TV comedy writer Stephen Hibbert, known for his cult role as the Gimp in Pulp Fiction and for writing on shows like Animaniacs and Boy Meets World, died at 68 after a heart attack; contemporaries including Roger Avary and Eli Roth recalled him publicly.

Blumhouse–Atomic Monster and Behaviour Interactive have hired David Leslie Johnston-McGoldrick and Alexandre Aja to write a feature adaptation of the hit game Dead by Daylight (rights picked up in 2023); Wan, Blum and Behaviour execs producing and director search underway.

Paramount dated Paranormal Activity 8 for May 21, 2027; the Melrose lot will co-finance with Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Ian Tuason directs, and producers include James Wan, Jason Blum and original creator Oren Peli—franchise has historically strong ROI (original made for ~$15k and grossed ~$194M).

Blumhouse-Atomic Monster is developing a feature adaptation of IDW’s comic The Exorcism at 1600 Penn with Jason Blum producing and IDW’s Davidi Jonas and creator Hannah Rose May executive-producing; the project blends possession horror with political thriller elements and is in development.

An apparent leak of the script for Zach Cregger’s upcoming Resident Evil (Sept 18 release) circulated on 4chan/Reddit before links were scrubbed; readers report a comedy-heavy take following organ courier Bryan (reportedly Austin Abrams) infected with the T-virus — leak could shape fan expectations and marketing response.

Prime Video is actively producing a God of War live-action series in Vancouver, adapting the recent games' father-son arc of Kratos and Atreus with production starting in early 2026 and a likely 2027 premiere; the show will be exclusive to Prime Video and follows the 2018/2014 game storylines.

Production has started in Naples on Super Santos, a feature adaptation of Roberto Saviano’s novel Cuore Puro directed by Ciro Visco and co-written by Saviano, following a group of boys whose love of football clashes with organised crime; the Palomar–PiperFilm production will shoot for six weeks and is being sold internationally by PiperPlay.

Steven Conrad says HBO limited series DTF St. Louis was inspired by hookup-app-driven poor choices among middle‑aged friends; David Harbour was attached early, and the suburban murder-mystery centers on a love triangle that leads to a killing.

Producers at Unifrance’s Rendez‑Vous contrasted France’s public funding model (state-backed support that can inject roughly $580,000 into projects) with the U.S.’s private, talent-driven financing; panelists noted genre projects are viewed as more de‑risked and cited examples including a $4.5M budget closed with German partners.

Amazon MGM Studios hired Warner Bros. Discovery Japan chief Buddy Marini to run its Japan studio operations, tasking him with building local originals across film, TV and anime and reporting to Nicole Clemens as Prime Video pushes to expand locally produced Japanese content.

Curzon CM Development Fund says it has 14 projects in the pipeline but none of the four finished films have been distributed by Curzon, and the company is expanding its Curzon Creates in‑house talent initiative after producing a low‑budget feature shot over 10 nights for £100,000.

A24 debuted the first trailer for Backrooms, director Kane Parsons’ A24-backed feature adapted from his viral YouTube series; A24 and Chernin co-financed with Atomic Monster and 21 Laps producing, and the film opens theatrically May 29.

Toho and MAPPA unveiled a Season 2 trailer for Dorohedoro, confirmed new Cross‑Eyes cast members and that (K)now_Name returns for music; Season 2 premieres April 1 on Crunchyroll and Toho launched a global official site.

Angel Engine, a dystopian surgical sim adapted from The Unearthly Guy web series and developed by Black Lantern Collective/HMS Studios and NerveLabs, is now available on Steam with a trailer depicting grotesque patient deformities and escalating equipment failure.