Horror Industry News — Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Multiple reports say A24’s live-action Elden Ring (written/directed by Alex Garland) is scheduled for IMAX theatrical release on March 3, 2028 and is reportedly A24’s most expensive production to date with a budget reported well over $100 million and an ensemble cast attached.

Damian McCarthy’s Hokum, starring Adam Scott and picked up by NEON for wide theatrical release, premiered at Panic Fest as a crowd-pleasing supernatural horror-comedy that expands McCarthy’s scope while signaling distributor confidence in the director’s commercial trajectory.

Netflix released the first six minutes of Stranger Things: Tales from '85, the animated 10-episode series set between Seasons 2 and 3, marking an expansion of the Stranger Things franchise into animated formats.

Acquisition news: Neon has picked up U.S. rights to Brandon Cronenberg’s sci‑fi thriller Possessor, indicating a distributor fit for elevated genre fare and setting the picture up for a U.S. release path via a specialty/genre-focused theatrical and VOD rollout.

A Tokyo court found Wataru Takeuchi guilty for running a spoiler site that reproduced extensive content from Godzilla Minus One and Overlord; he earned ¥38M from ads in 2023 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison plus a ¥1M fine, a landmark ruling on spoiler sites and monetized copyright infringement.

Searchlight’s Ready or Not 2 premiered at SXSW with directors Matt Bettinelli‑Olpin and Tyler Gillett and Samara Weaving returning as Grace; the sequel leans harder into gore and franchise set‑pieces while introducing a new sister character (Kathryn Newton) and a larger conspiracy of elite families—critic frames it as a likely sophomore slump that nonetheless delivers crowd-pleasing violence. The piece reiterates the first film’s $6M budget / $50M+ global gross as franchise context.

Netflix acquired Jaume Collet-Serra’s WWII survival thriller Play Dead (starring Noah Jupe and Matthias Schweighöfer), produced by Ghost House, BoulderLight and financed by Nocturnal — WME Independent handled sales and the film will join Collet‑Serra’s Netflix creative partnership slate.

Talk To Me — the 2022 Australian supernatural horror from directors Danny & Michael Philippou starring Sophie Wilde — is leaving Netflix on April 25; the film (A24 release) continues to draw praise for its body-horror imagery and themes of grief, addiction and social-media rituals.

Magnolia's Magnet label will release the dark, nightmarish thriller HEEL on Blu‑Ray, DVD and VOD May 26, 2026 (SRP listed: Blu‑Ray $29.98, DVD $26.98); the TIFF 2025 selection stars Anson Boon, Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough.

Interview material from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse reveals Lee Cronin’s prosthetics and effects approach for The Mummy — mixing latex, tearable layers and paper-like skinnings — underscoring the film’s deliberate body-horror practical FX work.

BIFAN's 30th edition (July 2–12) unveiled a 'chameleon' poster and 'New Era, New Skin' slogan signaling a programming pivot that embraces AI-driven creativity alongside its established genre slate.

Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich tease an update on Five Nights at Freddy’s 3, hinting at an unexpected reunion of Scream franchise villains as Blumhouse advances its live‑action FNaF series following the franchise’s box-office success.

Michael Chaves (The Conjuring Universe) and writer/artist Matthew Roberts launch Corpse Knight with Skybound — a character‑driven, historical‑fantasy horror comic focused on a father/daughter dynamic, with issue one just released as a mini‑series.

Screen tracks Cannes market packages ahead of the May 12-20 market, listing diverse projects from Doug Liman’s AI-enabled Bitcoin thriller (Gal Gadot, Isla Fisher, Casey Affleck, Pete Davidson) to high-concept thrillers from Ant Timpson and other international auteurs, with international sales partners noted per package.

Netflix secured global first-run simulcast rights to Chinese crime thriller Light to the Night (黑夜告白 / Confessions in the Dark), a 28-episode multi-timeline investigation series directed by Wang Zhi that will roll out daily beginning April 25, 2026.

Barbara Crampton is attached to a project described as experiencing “divine tragedies,” indicating a new genre role or announced casting for an upcoming horror/fantasy project.

Alex Kahuam’s supernatural-leaning psychological horror The Remedy will world premiere at SXSW London on June 3 (encore June 6); produced by Film Seekers with Sparta, Kahuam Films and Breakwall, the film features Timothy Granaderos, London Thor, Doug Jones and Jenny O’Hara and centers on grief, sleep-deprived visions and a dangerous ancient cure.

Raven Banner plans to market and sell international rights for horror title The Evil In Us at the Berlin market, signaling active genre sales activity out of that company for 2026 markets.

Red Water Entertainment has acquired Karen Lam’s Armageddon Road, securing rights to a genre project from the Canadian horror filmmaker—an acquisition that advances production prospects for a domestically rooted horror title.

Salem Horror Fest returns April 30–May 3 for its ninth year with world premieres, queer-focused programming, live podcasts, a keynote from Victoria Price, a Dee Wallace Q&A, author/screenwriter panels, and community events that sustain regional horror exhibition and talent discovery.

They Will Kill You, the high-rise Satanic action-horror starring Zazie Beetz, is hitting digital storefronts on April 28 following its recent theatrical run.

Warner Bros. unveiled a character-first image for Clayface and set an October 23, 2026 release; the James Watkins-directed, Mike Flanagan-penned body‑horror take on the Batman villain (starring Tom Rhys Harries) positions the title as a Halloween-season genre centerpiece.

Principal photography has begun in Colombia on elevated thriller The Last Cargo starring Katheryn Winnick, Samantha Logan and Iain Glen; Myriad Pictures will launch worldwide sales at Cannes while Photon Films handles Canada distribution, with Winnick among the executive producers.

RetroGig showcased God Help Us All, a fixed-camera survival-horror western, with a playable demo at Mad Games Show 2026 and a Steam release planned.

Ignition Press is launching THE PATRON, a new comic series that folds Italian and Korean horror influences into a twist-heavy murder mystery, positioning it as genre-bent IP with potential for adaptation.

Analyzes Black Christmas (1974) as the originator of the slasher 'opening kill' trope, detailing its killer-POV cinematography rig, the ominous phone-call device, and how these elements seeded conventions used in Halloween, When a Stranger Calls and Scream.

Indie developer Not A Cat Studios announced STARCULT. Night: Twisted Age, a dark-fantasy visual novel with emotion-driven gameplay that blends romance, mystery and player-driven branching storytelling centered on protagonist Silviya of House Nebula.

Popcorn Frights announced a virtual 'Wicked Weekend' Halloween event—an expanded virtual programming move that continues the festival's brand-building and audience outreach between physical editions.

Christmas at Aunt Betty’s — Troy Burbank’s holiday horror starring genre vets including Eileen Dietz, Lauren Marie Taylor and Bill Randolph — will world premiere May 16 at Kevin Smith’s Smodcastle Cinemas with additional New Jersey Horror Con screenings to follow.

Hulu has ordered a pilot for a new X-Files reboot with Ryan Coogler set to write and direct the pilot and Danielle Deadwyler cast as one of the two lead FBI agents; Jennifer Yale is showrunner, original creator Chris Carter remains a non-writing EP, and the project sits under Coogler's Disney overall TV deal via Proximity Media.

Netflix's live-action Gundam is now in production with an ensemble led by Sydney Sweeney, Jason Isaacs and Noah Centineo; Jim Mickle is directing and wrote the script, with Netflix producing alongside Legendary Pictures and Bandai Namco Filmworks.

Panic Fest premiere Obsession (dir. Curry Barker) is being hailed as a breakout theatrical-ready horror debut—mixing body horror and consent-driven themes—with a star-making lead turn from Inde Navarrette and strong festival buzz that could drive distribution interest.

Netflix and 21 Laps are developing a feature adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s short story 'The Blanks'—a continuation of Netflix’s investment in literary horror IP from a prolific contemporary genre author.

Ben Leonberg (Good Boy) is attached to direct a Grady Hendrix adaptation for Sony Pictures, marking another studio-scale move to translate a commercial horror author into a potential franchise film.

Tubi is premiering Surviving Sasha, a serialized expansion of the film Bid for Love that transitioned into a full series with a predominantly Black cast (Clifton Powell, Eva Marcille, Cynthia Bailey among new additions), signaling Tubi’s push into Black-led serialized thriller/drama originals.

ITN Distribution revealed the poster (and trailer) for its Night of the Living Dead remake starring Vivica A. Fox, directed by Christopher Ray — a new take on George A. Romero’s 1968 zombie classic.

Scott Derrickson has been tapped to direct a film adaptation of The Outer Limits for the screen (report via IMDb) — a genre property attachment that signals studio interest in reviving classic sci‑fi anthology IP with established horror-director talent.

IDW will publish 13 Demons Dead, a 250‑page black-and-white graphic novel by game writer/director Adam Tierney and artist Saspy (on sale August 4); the teen demon‑hunter story positions itself as a sizeable new horror IP.

Rebecca Ferguson headlines a three‑part sci‑fi project that has set its release date on Apple TV+, marking a limited‑series premiere for the actress and another high‑profile genre acquisition for Apple’s platform.

CMPA reports Canadian production volume reached CAD 10.2 billion in 2024–25, underscoring Canada's continuing role as a high-capacity production jurisdiction that matters for genre and indie horror shoots.

Apple TV+ set Silo Season 3 to premiere July 3 with a 10-episode run releasing one episode weekly through Sept. 4; Season 3 continues the dystopian saga (present timeline + origin ‘Before Times’) and was greenlit alongside a final Season 4. Rebecca Ferguson returns as Juliette with new and returning cast additions including Jessica Henwick, Ashley Zukerman and Colin Hanks.

A teaser trailer for Alex Kahuam’s The Remedy — produced with Kahuam Films, Sparta Productions and Breakwall Pictures — will screen at SXSW London on June 3, positioning the film for festival exposure ahead of wider distribution moves.

A trailer has debuted for Hungry, a killer-hippo creature feature directed by James Nunn, positioning the film as a high-concept creature-horror/comedy ahead of its release campaign.

Jessica Rothe headlines AFFECTION, a gaslighting/loop horror film; Fangoria debuted the trailer and the movie is set for theatrical release next month.

Good Omens returns as a feature-length series finale on Prime Video arriving May 13, directed by Rachel Talalay (who has prior horror-adjacent credits including Freddy’s Dead) with Michael Sheen and David Tennant reprising their roles.

RZA’s new revenge thriller One Spoon of Chocolate (starring Shameik Moore) has a trailer out via Fangoria, positioning the film as a crime‑thriller with genre crossover potential.