Horror Industry News — Friday, March 20, 2026

Hulu passed on Chloé Zhao’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot—reported at roughly $12M—citing audience/reach concerns; the decision generated public pushback from Sarah Michelle Gellar and raises questions about high-cost genre reboots on mainstream streamers.

The Ankler is programming panels at NAB (April 18–22) spotlighting horror’s commercial durability — speakers include Markiplier (Mark Fischbach), Atomic Monster president Michael Clear and screenwriter Akela Cooper, and the event will also examine microdramas and creator-driven short-form serialized storytelling.

Ian Tuason’s micro‑budget horror Undertone — a slow‑burn, audio‑centric feature starring Nina Kiri — sold to A24 after premiering at Fantasia; Tuason frames it as grounded in grief and audio design, and he’s also directing a new Paranormal Activity entry next year.

DOJ antitrust leadership says the Paramount–WBD merger will not receive political fast-tracking and the antitrust division intends to review M&A deals aggressively; the transaction (backed by sovereign funds) faces additional state and Congressional scrutiny amid concerns about industry concentration.

Oliver Bernsen’s debut Bagworm premiered in SXSW’s Visions strand as a hallucinatory body‑horror/black comedy that graphically depicts a man's mental collapse and the toxic manosphere, starring Peter Falls.

Neon will release the Japanese psychological horror Exit 8 — adapted from Kotake Create's video game — in U.S. theaters April 10, with marketing emphasizing an endless, liminal subway nightmare.

DreadXP and DarkStone Digital will bring the first playable demo of Paranormal Activity: Threshold to PAX East 2026 (March 26–29) at the DreadXP booth, moving the licensed horror game into hands-on public playtesting ahead of release.

Following its Sundance world premiere, Vertical acquired North American rights to The Weight, a 1933 Oregon-set thriller directed by editor-turned-director Padraic McKinley and starring Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones and Austin Amelio; Hawke helped secure a rewrite and the film moved straight to production after the script came together.

Pretty Lethal (dir. Vicky Jewson), an action-horror thriller starring Uma Thurman and Lana Condor, premiered at SXSW and will stream globally on Prime Video on March 25, 2026; critics note tonal inconsistency between camp and seriousness.

John Carpenter will publish his first original graphic novel Cathedral on August 4 via Storm King Comics and has also composed an accompanying album titled Cathedral, with music release details forthcoming.

Indie horror DARK PLACES — written and directed by Geno McGahee and distributed by Cinema Epoch — had a near-sellout theatrical premiere in Agawam, MA and is currently streaming on Tubi and Fawesome, building grassroots momentum after strong audience reception at its Q&A screening.

Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights is launching official announcements for its 35th edition beginning March 21, 2026 — Bloody Disgusting received an early teaser as the event prepares anniversary programming and house reveals.

Philippine producers Fusee and Studio 360 partnered on Tokyo-set action thriller One More Night to Live (Kon’ya Daremo Shinanai), directed by Lester Pimentel Ong and Ace Wang Yan Bin, blending grounded Kali-based combat with a trafficking/crime thriller storyline and targeting a 2027 release while seeking international distribution at FilMart.

Curry Barker’s SXSW/TIFF breakout Obsession — a darkly comic slow-burn about a wish that robs a woman of agency — reportedly had a gore scene trimmed to secure an R and has been picked up for a wide summer release by Focus, positioning Barker as a new indie horror talent.

Crave's thriller Yaga has sold U.K. and Ireland rights to Sky, securing international distribution for the title and expanding its reach beyond Canada/Crave.

Warwick Thornton’s Berlinale competition title Wolfram has closed multiple territory sales through Paradise City — buyers include Cherry Pickers (Benelux), Unicorn (Italy), Ama Films (Greece) and Dark Matter (Australia/New Zealand) — building on Thornton’s Sweet Country world and festival pedigree.

Greta Gerwig offered brief comments at Netflix’s ‘Next on Netflix’ event saying her Narnia adaptation is “under wraps” and a personal passion project, while Netflix producers described the tone as a “rock and roll” take.

Thomas Vu (Arcane/Riot) and iwot Studios are developing new Wheel of Time animated projects — a series, an animated film and a video game — but no streamers, distributors or production partners are attached yet beyond concept art and stated transmedia ambitions.

Nathan Fillion is co-writing/producing a new crime-thriller comic series, Witness Point, for Dark Horse (on sale July) with co-writer Heath Corson and artist Soo Lee; Dark Horse Entertainment/Collision33 are attached for adaptation potential.

Chattanooga Film Festival revealed a sizeable second-wave genre slate for its 13th edition, highlighting a mix of world and U.S. premieres across indie horror and offbeat genre fare that will shape programmers’ and buyers’ scouting at the festival.

Kevin Williamson revealed he pushed to include more legacy Ghostface cameos in Scream 7 — specifically trying (unsuccessfully) to secure Emma Roberts and Timothy Olyphant — while the film features returning cameo appearances from Matthew Lillard, Scott Foley, David Arquette and Laurie Metcalf and is now the franchise’s highest-grossing entry.

Cappu Films has closed multiple international distribution deals for Tony Leung's crime thriller Fox Hunt following European Film Market activity, with sales across Germany, Poland, Spain/Portugal and Latin America; further deals are in talks at Hong Kong FilMart.

BayView Entertainment acquired surreal psychological horror-drama COMPRESSION (dir. Jakob Bilinski), a festival-decorated title noted for practical effects and awards at HorrorHound; BayView will handle distribution following the film’s festival run.

Genre filmmaker Jamie Blanks has died at 54; best known for directing Urban Legend (which grossed $72M WW) and Valentine, he later worked as a composer and remained active developing and supporting other filmmakers.

Collider reports Warner Bros. is moving forward with The Matrix 5 and appears to be shifting the franchise away from much of the original cast as it develops the next installment.

John Lithgow, cast as Dumbledore in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series, says he disagrees with J.K. Rowling’s anti‑trans views and nearly quit the project; the series is showrun by Francesca Gardiner with Mark Mylod directing episodes for Warner Bros. Television.

Arrow Video will release a 25-disc Stranger Things complete‑series 4K UHD box set on July 28, 2026, including seasons 3–5 on home video for the first time plus extras (featurettes, interviews, a 148‑page art book and bloopers).

Netflix acquired Julian Schnabel’s Venice-premiered adaptation of Nick Tosches’ novel In the Hand of Dante, starring Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, Jason Momoa and others; Schnabel co-adapted with Louise Kugelberg and CAA Media Finance/WME Independent handled repped sales.

Austin American-Statesman critiques SXSW 2026's chaotic, genre-bending slate and highlights horror/genre standouts such as Ready or Not 2 (with Samara Weaving, Elijah Wood, David Cronenberg) and other boundary-pushing festival titles, indicating SXSW's continued role as a launchpad for mid-budget genre fare.

Cannes' La Résidence selected six emerging filmmakers for its 51st session (Mar 16–Jul 31, 2026), including Harry Lighton (Pillion) and other auteurs who will get five months in Paris to write and meet industry professionals.

Early social reactions to A24’s The Drama — starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya and directed by Kristoffer Borgli — skew positive, labeling the film a dark, uncomfortable romantic-comedy thriller after its LA premiere.

Brian Tetsuro Ivie’s lo‑fi sci‑fi road movie Anima — starring Sydney Chandler and Takehiro Hira — centers on a consciousness-upload premise and the existential journey of two mismatched travelers, framed as a modest, character-led sci‑fi piece.

Halloween: The Video Game launches Sept 8 on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC (Steam & Epic) and is staging a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest gathering of Michael Myers cosplayers as a marketing stunt ahead of release.

Summit Comics is launching TESTAMENTS OF TERROR, a new line of original horror comics; Fangoria has an exclusive first look at the opening two issues that position the imprint toward classic, original horror storytelling.

Collider/related reporting confirms Mike Flanagan’s Carrie for Prime Video with Heather Graham onboard and that early episodes have been screened; show updates a King classic with social-media bullying and school gun-violence themes, but no premiere date or budget disclosed.

Tubi has greenlit R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2, reuniting writer-director Jem Garrard and Front Street Pictures for an October release as part of Tubi’s 'Terror on Tubi' Halloween slate following the original's breakout on the platform.

Searchlight Pictures has picked up April Wolfe’s thriller script Bad Hand with Chloe Okuno attached to direct and Elizabeth Banks/Max Handelman/Alison Small (Brownstone) producing — project in development at Searchlight under Chan Phung and Marielle Membreno.

Tubi has partnered with TikTok to launch the Creatorverse Incubator, a creator-to-longform pipeline that will select TikTok creators to develop exclusive scripted and unscripted series for Tubi and use TikTok Spotlight to drive promotion; Tubi will announce an initial cohort this summer and will detail more at its 2026 IAB NewFront presentation.

Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed series has begun production at Cinecittà and is set in Ancient Rome (64 AD) during Nero’s reign with an original story; the ensemble just added Sandra Guldberg-Kampp, Youssef Kerkour, Mirren Mack and Louis McCartney, with Roberto Patino and David Wiener as showrunners and Ubisoft as an EP partner.

Meredith Alloway’s feature debut Forbidden Fruits premiered at SXSW as a Dallas‑set witchy horror‑comedy starring Lili Reinhart and Lola Tung, adapted from Lily Houghton’s play and notable for its female‑led cast and crew.

Both Worlds (South Africa) and Paris-based Paradoxal secured exclusive rights to adapt two Deon Meyer bestsellers—Umzingeli (The Hunter), with Noah Stollman as lead writer/showrunner, and Dead at Daybreak, with Tertius Kapp as head writer and Jaco Bouwer directing—with Meyer EPing both projects for premium, internationally scoped TV series.

SeriesMakers (Series Mania Institute and Beta) revealed its 2026 development lab slate featuring projects from Jennifer Weiss, Nomvuselelo Dlamini and several emerging writer-directors; the program continues to position SeriesMakers as a launchpad for first-time drama-series creators with a winner to be named March 24 during the Series Mania Forum.

Collider reports Catherine Bell, Bailee Madison and James Denton say talks are actively underway to revive Hallmark’s The Good Witch franchise — multiple production companies complicate the path but the principal cast is onboard and meetings are happening now.

Paul Greengrass is attached to direct Test Drive, an action/thriller spec at 20th Century, aligning the studio’s high-velocity spec with a director known for kinetic, momentum-driven filmmaking and signaling 20th Century’s continued investment in commercial thrillers.

Netflix has cast Maya Hawke to star in its adaptation of Liz Moore's thriller The God of the Woods, a multi-generational Adirondacks-set mystery about the disappearance of a 13-year-old and family secrets.

Jeff Sneider reports Jacob Tremblay is in talks for Neon’s 4 X 4: The Event, a high-concept horror about eight contestants forced into an illegal livestreamed kill-or-be-killed sensory challenge; production slated for later this year with Spooky Pictures and Divide/Conquer producing.

Quebec announced a multi-year CAD$280M spending plan for the province's audiovisual sector, a sizable public investment that will influence production volumes and finance availability across Quebec-based genre and non-genre projects.

Berlin-based distributor/producer DCM has acquired Swiss independent Ascot Elite Entertainment, merging teams under the DCM brand while retaining Ascot founders as producers and transitioning executive management to Stephanie Candinas — a consolidation move expanding DCM’s German‑language footprint.

Canada Media Fund (CMF) revised its Sector Development Support program for 2026–27, updating eligibility and funding priorities that will shape which Canadian audiovisual projects (including genre indies) can access development support next year.

Gustaw Stachaszewski, co-creator of survival-horror Darkwood, announced HOARDER — an atmospheric psychological-horror leaning game framed as a cleaning simulator-turned-nightmare — coming to PS5, Xbox Series, and PC (Steam); no release date given.

Long Time Listener — Danielle Nicolet’s directorial debut — follows a true-crime podcaster stalked by a mysterious attacker; the cast includes Meagan Holder, Lyriq Bent and Cleo Berry, and the film premieres April 2 on AMC’s ALLBLK.

Canadian indie A Thousand Cuts — a darkly comedic true-crime murder mystery about TV hosts reopening a 30-year-old case tied to a horror novelist — will hit VOD March 26 via Persimmon with an official trailer released.

Indie horror-comedy Dinogeist — set in the same universe as Ouija Shark — will arrive on Digital and DVD April 21 via Wild Eye Releasing; a new trailer showcases its low-budget creature-comedy blend.

An indie thriller titled The Highest Stakes — directed by Tony Dean Smith and starring Seth Green — released an official trailer; the poker-night survival premise is headed direct-to-VOD in April and frames escalating danger inside a New Orleans hotel.

Korean horror Salmokji: Whispering Water is screening/promoted at EFM with a trailer surfacing — signaling international sales push but no disclosed deals, talent or release dates in the excerpt.

Poncle announced roguelite deckbuilder Vampire Crawlers will launch April 21 on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch and PC (Steam/Microsoft Store), with iOS/Android releases to follow.

Fangoria shared a trailer for INKY BLINKY BOB, a surrealist horror game where players fight mutant experiments using unusual tools and mechanics — positioning it within the indie horror gaming niche.