ScreamWire Daily

IllFonic is developing the official Halloween video game — an asymmetrical multiplayer (plus single‑player) experience where one player is Michael Myers and others are the Heroes of Haddonfield; John Carpenter teases fans will be pleased and the game is due Sept. 8, 2026.

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Frankenstein reimagining The Bride! has underperformed catastrophically: reported $90M production budget and an estimated $20M global gross to date, with a second-weekend drop over 70% and projections implying a major studio loss if typical P&A and revenue splits hold.

Sky acquired a slate of Crave originals for UK/Ireland distribution, including Heated Rivalry S2 and Crave’s mythic coastal thriller YAGA (a Baba Yaga reimagining co‑directed by David Frazee and Rachel Talalay), while also picking up multiple other U.S./global series including A24’s Superfakes.

Prime Video India unveiled a 54-title slate across Hindi, Tamil and Telugu including big local productions (Hrithik Roshan’s HRX Films, Alia Bhatt’s Eternal Sunshine) and genre entries such as supernatural thriller Anarth and the dark-hotel title Welcome to Khoya Mahal, signaling a broad push into regional streaming originals and genre fare.

Netflix cast Tanner Hagen as Shaggy, Abby Ryder Fortson as Velma, Maxwell Jenkins as Fred (Mckenna Grace previously cast as Daphne) for a live-action Mystery Inc. origin series written by Josh Appelbaum & Scott Rosenberg and produced by Midnight Radio, Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

Paramount+ will stream Johannes Roberts’ creature feature Primate (starring Johnny Sequoyah and Troy Kotsur) in the U.S. and Canada on March 25; the film pits a family against an increasingly violent, hyper-intelligent pet chimpanzee and was shot with practical FX and cinematography by Stephen Murphy.

Glen Powell will produce The Death Roll, a killer‑crocodile thriller for Lionsgate, signaling another creature‑feature in Lionsgate's genre slate with Powell stepping into a producing role.

Karyn Kusama is directing the first two episodes of Amazon Prime Video’s Life Is Strange series adaptation, which casts Maisy Stella and newcomer Tatum Grace Hopkins as leads and retools the mystery-adventure game for episodic TV.

NEON’s Japanese psychological horror Exit 8 received a PG-13 rating for bloody images and terror and is slated to open theatrically April 10, 2026—positioning it ahead of May’s major horror slate.

Fifteen (Quince), a coming-of-age horror-comedy world-premiering in SXSW’s Midnighter program, uses possession/monstrous pregnancy as a metaphor for adolescence and features breakout performances from Greta Martí and Macarena Oz; filmmakers Jack and Yossy Zagha and writers Ricardo Álvarez Canales and Andrzej Rattinger balance social poignancy with genre gore.

TIFF Next Wave (April 16–19) announced its 15th anniversary lineup including Chandler Levack’s Netflix comedy Roommates and several youth-focused selections with genre-leaning titles such as Avalon Fast’s CAMP (occult at a Christian grief camp) and a ghost-tinged If I Go Will They Miss Me.

Jason Bateman will direct Netflix’s The Cackling of the Dodos, a film starring Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell based on an original screenplay by Rye Curtis about a farmer who discovers a corpse in a grain bin and becomes embroiled in a chaotic cover-up.

Greg Berlanti’s Skybound is placing comic adaptations—Stillwater at Amazon and Foster Dade at Hulu—continuing the label’s pipeline of IP-driven TV deals with major streamers.

Bloody Disgusting flags May 2026 as a heavy month for original horror with multiple high-profile releases—including A24/James Wan-backed Backrooms—positioning the calendar as a potential box-office moment for genre originals.

New TV spots for Lee Cronin’s The Mummy lean heavily into body horror and new footage; film starring Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy and others opens in theaters April 17, 2026 from Blumhouse, Atomic Monster and New Line.

CPH:DOX’s Inter:Active exhibition, themed “Hypervigilance,” showcases immersive and interactive works that grapple with surveillance, AI bias and bodily horror — including live-performed CGI horror pieces like Brains in the State of Suspension — positioning the festival as a hub for multisensory genre experimentation.

Bryan Fuller’s Dust Bunny, starring Mads Mikkelsen, arrives on 4K Ultra HD April 28 via Lionsgate with new special features tied to the fantastical gateway-horror feature.

SXSW 2026 awarded Graham Parkes’ sci‑fi rom‑com Wishful Thinking the Narrative Feature top prize; the festival's winners list also includes Midnight short winner Tongue and animated short Hag, signaling notable genre shorts and emerging talent to watch.

StudioCanal will release a new 4K restoration Collector’s Edition of Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone on 4K UHD and digital (April 13), featuring new intro by del Toro, restored picture, two posters, 64‑page booklet and extensive bonus materials — marking the film’s 25th anniversary.

Arrow Video will release a newly restored 4K Ultra HD Limited Edition of Tobe Hooper’s 1979 Salem’s Lot on March 31, 2026, featuring both the original miniseries and the overseas theatrical cut, multiple commentaries and new featurettes.

Dark Horse and James Tynion IV’s Tiny Onion collaboration BEAST OF BORIKÉN reimagines the Chupacabra with a new, skin‑crawling design in a horror comic being highlighted by Fangoria.

Scream Factory has announced a high‑definition Blu‑ray Collector’s Edition of the 1976 eco‑horror Squirm, targeting an October release with expected bonus features as part of its Collector’s Edition line.

Mike Flanagan’s new Exorcist film is in production in NYC with Scarlett Johansson and a large ensemble (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, Diane Lane, Sasha Calle, Rahul Kohli and many Flanagan regulars) under a Blumhouse‑Atomic Monster/Red Room/Morgan Creek banner; the article notes Universal/Peacock paid roughly $400M for trilogy rights and The Exorcist: Believer grossed $137M on a $30M budget.

AMC+ and Shudder will premiere The Terror: Devil in Silver on May 7 (six episodes, weekly) — Ridley Scott exec produces, Chris Cantwell and Victor LaValle wrote and run the season (LaValle's novel is the source), Karyn Kusama directs the first two episodes and Dan Stevens headlines a large cast.

Hulu has canceled the pilot for the planned Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel (tentatively titled New Sunnydale) after the finished pilot reportedly "played too young" and a Disney Television Group executive (reported as Craig Erwich) declined to move it forward; Chloé Zhao directed, Nora and Lilla Zuckerman wrote, Sarah Michelle Gellar returned and Ryan Kiera Armstrong was attached — Disney/Hulu say they're open to reworking the project but the current incarnation is dead.

Hong Kong’s HAF/HKIFF project market handed out 25 cash and in‑kind prizes worth more than $360,000, with Vincci Cheuk’s 38.83, Norris Wong & Wong Hoi’s Good Trip and Yosep Anggi Noen’s The Sea Speaks His Name each winning multiple awards; several genre-leaning projects picked up NAFF/Focus Asia pipeline slots and virtual production/post-production support.

Apple TV+'s Imperfect Women (adapted from Araminta Hall, created by Annie Weisman) premiered March 18 and quickly climbed streaming charts — starring Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara — despite mixed reviews and a 50% Rotten Tomatoes score.

SXSW world premiere of Forbidden Fruits — an occult-tinged, Diablo Cody–approved horror satire directed by first‑timer Meredith Alloway and written by Lily Houghton (adapted from her play); stars Lola Tung, Lili Reinhart, Alexandra Shipp and Victoria Pedretti; IFC and Shudder branding attached; theatrical release March 27.

Apple TV+ is producing an adaptation of Philip Kerr’s Berlin Noir with production underway in Berlin; casting additions include Jessica Gunning, Maxine Peake, Daniel Mays, Sam Riley and Roger Allam alongside previously announced Jack Lowden and Colin Firth, with Bad Wolf and PlayTone producing and Peter Straughan showrunning.

A24’s 2026 slate was outlined, highlighting pop‑star thrillers and a bachelor‑party horror (untitled) as well as a reported seven‑figure acquisition for the Discretion series (short story-to-series), plus potential Masque of the Red Death casting shifts.

City Wide Fever, a lo‑fi meta giallo about a film student who uncovers a cursed movie, opens nationwide at Alamo Drafthouse cinemas April 15 via Factory 25 and will be released on Blu‑ray by Vinegar Syndrome.