ScreamWire Daily

Searchlight Pictures acquired supernatural SXSW premiere Monitor — a contagion‑style horror about a disturbing video that spreads from screen to screen — signaling Searchlight's active buying in the festival genre market.

Steven Spielberg rallied behind Universal’s renewed theatrical strategy at CinemaCon as Donna Langley announced an expanded minimum theatrical exclusive window (5 weekends in 2026, 7 weekends in 2027 — Universal cited a 45‑day commitment), while presentations included footage from Nolan’s The Odyssey and a Focus Features segment that referenced Robert Eggers’ Werw—.

Wonder Project and AI startup Luma (backed by AWS) launched Innovative Dreams — a standalone studio/R&D/virtual-production/post house championing “real-time hybrid filmmaking” that embeds generative AI across production workflows; Luma previously raised $900M and Moses is the first project to use the pipeline.

Epic Pictures Group has acquired UK/France sales/prod company Film Seekers and will appoint founder Caroline Couret-Delègue as President of Sales and Content to expand Epic's global sales footprint and bolster labels including horror-focused Dread and videogame arm DreadXP.

Doug Liman is shooting Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi on an AI-driven gray-stage—replacing locations, sets and some departments with generative backgrounds via Acme AI & FX—claiming the process cut roughly $230M from the film’s original scope down to about $70M; the shoot uses live actors (Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot) and eliminated traditional lighting crews, raising major AI-in-production implications.

Don Mancini confirmed at Steel City Con he is writing a new theatrically released Child's Play/Chucky film — modeled on Curse of Chucky’s return-to-fright approach — and it will remain canon with the TV series.

Madrid-based Latido Films sold Colombian supernatural action-thriller The Awakening (El Despertar) to multiple territories—U.S. rights to Well Go, South Korea to Mediasoft, Poland to 9th Plan—; the film, finished posthumously after director Jaime Osorio Márquez’s death, world premieres at Guadalajara Film Festival.

Production designer Tamara Deverell, fresh off an Academy Award for Frankenstein, details collaborating with Guillermo del Toro to blend operatic fantasy and period research on Netflix’s Mary Shelley adaptation, emphasizing historically grounded fantastical design choices.

Comprehensive CinemaCon recap: Warner Bros. unveiled footage and trailers for multiple genre titles (Evil Dead Burn/Wrath with heavy gore, Clayface with body-horror, Dune: Part Three first-seven-minutes, and Supergirl clips), plus casting and title reveals that reinforce WB's focus on franchise and horror-adjacent IP.

Zach Cregger has a new original sci‑fi thriller, The Flood, produced by Amblin and set for Aug. 11, 2028 release via Warner Bros./New Line — signaling Spielberg-backed theatrical ambition after Cregger’s studio successes.

Stoic acquired The Red Mask out of its FrightFest and Screamfest festival runs, signaling a festival-to-sales pickup for the title and a new distribution path following genre market exposure.

Genki Kawamura is adapting the hit Japanese game Exit 8 into a mind-bending cinematic purgatory set in Tokyo’s underground corridors for Neon — his first partnership with the label and a game-to-film IP move with clear genre/contained-horror vibes.

The Film Sales Company is launching international sales at Cannes for corporate-containment horror Corporate Retreat (dir. Aaron Fisher), which premiered at Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival; US theatrical is set for May 22 via Western Film Services, with Pulsar Pictures handling North American ancillary rights.

Kristen Bell is joining Violent Night 2 as Mrs. Claus, reuniting with director Tommy Wirkola and returning co‑star David Harbour as the sequel moves forward with a larger ensemble including Andrew 'King Bach' Bachelor, Joe Pantoliano, Jared Harris, Daniela Melchior and Maxwell.

Casting additions Albrecht Schuch, Douglas Hodge, Gwilym Lee and Vinette Robinson have joined TriStar's The Nightingale, which stars Dakota and Elle Fanning and is slated for theatrical release Feb. 12, 2027.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw will lead BBC sci-fi series Sutherland — produced by World Productions and written by James Smythe and collaborators — about the UK’s first crewed mission, with filming in Scotland later this year and ITV Studios handling international distribution.

Survival horror ITCH! — directed by Bari Kang — opens on UK digital April 20 via Seven Tales and on US digital April 21 via Trinity Content Partners, giving the film immediate D2V availability across key English-language markets.

Titan Comics will publish Black Star, a five-issue Northern Gothic noir steeped in horror and dark humour from Kristen Kreuk (co-written with Peter Mooney and Eric Putzer, art by Joe Bocardo), with Issue #1 arriving in stores and digital on July 29.

CBS’ 2026-27 schedule shifts Ghosts and Matlock to midseason to accommodate new series including Eternally Yours — a vampire family comedy from Ghosts showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman — and Cupertino, a Silicon Valley legal drama starring Mike Colter; Ghosts will still run a full 22-episode season and air holiday specials.

Stormind Games and Maximum Entertainment will publish a physical PS5 and Switch 2 edition of horror title Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy, with pre-orders expected to go live soon following the game's recent reveal.

BBC interim director-general Rhodri Talfan Davies revealed plans to cut between 1,800–2,000 roles as part of a £500M ($678M) savings program over three years, with a voluntary redundancy scheme signaled but compulsory layoffs likely and immediate cost-control measures implemented.

Hungary’s election win by Péter Magyar’s Tisza party ends 16 years of Viktor Orbán rule and raises hopes among local and international producers that state-driven propaganda commissions will be replaced and film/TV tax-incentive and commissioning practices reformed, potentially reopening the market to independent projects.

Trade review notes Cronin’s The Mummy was made for under $20M and—citing Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise—suggests the low-budget/practical-effects approach could drive franchise potential after strong returns; frames producers James Wan and Jason Blum as strategic players behind the darker reboot.

Sony presented a gaming-adaptation push at CinemaCon — key genre projects include an R-rated animated Bloodborne (PlayStation Productions/Lyrical Animation, Jacksepticeye producing), a 2027 Helldivers live-action film directed by Justin Lin starring Jason Momoa, a Legend of Zelda feature produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and directed by Wes Ball, and a new Resident Evil film directed by Zach Cregger, signaling a studio-wide strategy to tailor adaptations to each IP’s tone.

StudioCanal announced plans to reimagine Joe Dante’s 1981 werewolf classic The Howling at its CinemaCon panel; no writer/director/cast attached yet and Andy Muschietti reports are unconfirmed.

Terrifier 4 filmmaker Damien Leone provided a promising update on the gory sequel—confirmation of active creative/production progress on the franchise sequel suggests Terrifier remains on track as a continuing indie horror franchise.

Wizards of the Coast launched an official Dungeons & Dragons actual-play series, Dungeon Masters, premiering on YouTube Apr. 22 with episodes tied to official products (first arc supporting the Ravenloft: The Horrors Within campaign), featuring Jasmine Bhullar as DM and players including Christian Navarro and Neil Newbon.

Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane reports that final mixes for all eight episodes of Peacock's Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake are complete, signaling the show is moving through the last stages toward a premiere date announcement.

Someone Has To Know (Alguien Tiene Que Saber), an eight-episode Chilean true-crime drama on Netflix, fictionalizes the unsolved Jorge Matute Johns disappearance across three perspectives and is noted for strong performances despite pacing issues.

/Film traces six failed Battlestar Galactica reboot attempts — from Richard Hatch’s self-financed 'Second Coming' pitch to other shelved studio projects — underscoring the franchise's difficulty to relaunch despite high-profile talent like Ronald D. Moore being involved in past reimaginings.

CBS greenlit NCIS: New York for fall as part of its 2026–27 schedule, reuniting LL Cool J and Scott Caan and positioning it alongside NCIS and NCIS: Origins; CBS Studios produces with R. Scott Gemmill and Byron Balasco EPing and Balasco set as showrunner.

Robert Eggers’ medieval werewolf Werwulf premiered first footage at CinemaCon and is set for a Dec. 25 theatrical release, reuniting Eggers with Aaron Taylor‑Johnson, Lily‑Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson and continuing Focus/Universal’s investment in period genre fare.

Amazon MGM previewed Verity, a Michael Showalter-directed adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s psychological thriller starring Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway, with Josh Hartnett co-starring; the film opens in theaters Oct. 2 after a for-the-room CinemaCon trailer screening.

Apple TV+ launches Widow’s Bay, a supernatural series about a cursed coastal town, with its two-episode global debut on April 29 and weekly episode drops through June 17; Bloody Disgusting premiered an exclusive teaser focused on a Boogeyman stalking storyline.

Kino Lorber released the U.S. trailer for The Currents, Milagros Mumenthaler's hallucinatory psychological mystery (Argentine) that played Toronto and other festivals and will open in limited U.S. theaters this summer.