Horror Industry News — Saturday, May 2, 2026

Lionsgate and Blumhouse are launching sales for a Blair Witch reboot at Cannes with Dylan Clark directing and a roughly $10M budget planned; Chris Thomas Devlin penned an earlier draft, James Wan and Jason Blum produce, and original 1999 filmmakers and two original cast members are attached as executive producers, signaling a franchise relaunch backed by major genre players.

Film is set during the events of Resident Evil 2 and emphasizes T‑Virus mutants over classic shambling zombies; director Zach Cregger provides a trailer breakdown outlining the film’s creature-forward, bio‑horror approach.

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy has reached $72.2M global after nearly two weeks; on an estimated $22M budget the picture shows an approximate $17.2M theatrical surplus and needs about $11.6M more to equal The Scorpion King’s historical theatrical profit.

Álex de la Iglesia boards Hold the Devil, a high‑concept action thriller blending gritty cartel violence with supernatural horror, starring Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Demián Bichir; Protagonist Pictures is launching international sales at Cannes with CAA Media Finance handling domestic representation and Corin Hardy onboard as EP.

Lionsgate and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster; new Blair Witch is a franchise reimagining with Dylan Park boards to direct and original stars Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams elevated to executive producers; original filmmakers Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick and Gregg Hale also onboard, signaling a legacy-linked reboot under the new Lionsgate/Blumhouse-Atomic Monster partnership.

Evil Dead Burn sets a July 10 theatrical release via New Line and Warner Bros; new image confirms Luciane Buchanan as a Deadite and names Sébastien Vaniček directing from a script by Florent Bernard, signaling franchise continuation with fresh creative leadership.

Filming wrapped on Dangerous Games to Play; adaptation of Lucia Peters' novel from writer Evan Spiliotopoulos and director Ángel Gómez Hernández; produced by Scott Strauss' Badlands (Thunder Road partnership) with Renegade Capital backing; Altitude to shop first footage at Cannes market and Javier Botet among the cast.

Hulu boards a pilot for Southern Bastards; Cara Buono joins a cast led by Kevin Bacon, Erin Kellyman and Tim McGraw with Reinaldo Marcus Green directing and Bill Dubuque writing teleplay; series adapts the graphic novels and is produced with Proximity Media and Fifth Season.

Netflix moves Under Paris 2 into production with Alexandre Aja directing and original director Xavier Gens onboard as co-writer and associate producer; core cast including Bérénice Bejo, Nassim Lyes, Guillaume Gouix and Philippe Bas are returning as the sequel expands the submerged-Paris premise after the first film logged 102M+ views.

Zach Cregger anchors Sony/Capcom's Resident Evil as a single-character, survival-horror feature focused on resource-management and escalating weapon upgrades; production built large practical sets including a five-story working elevator bank and practical creature rigs to favor grounded, game-faithful terror over campy icons like Nemesis.

Netflix’s seven-episode Man on Fire reinvention starring Yahya Abdul‑Mateen II leaves a finale open to Season 2; Abdul‑Mateen signals the story and character threads are primed for continuation, positioning Netflix to extend a high-profile action IP into series territory.

Netflix is producing The Woods, a TV adaptation of Harlan Coben’s 2007 novel now in production in the U.K.; the thriller stars Tom Bateman as Paul Copeland and Michelle Keegan as Lucy Silverfield and promises a twisty, emotional mystery centered on a decades-old disappearance.

Murder, She Wrote feature starring Jamie Lee Curtis delayed to 2028; delay shifts studio scheduling and removes a high-profile legacy-IP release from the near-term slate but no distribution or budget details disclosed.

Blumhouse and Lionsgate’s Blair Witch remake moves forward with Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams now listed as executive producers and 22‑year‑old Dylan Clark attached to direct his feature debut; the piece notes Heather Donahue (Rei Hance) remains absent from credits and filming is eyed for this fall.

Cregger confirms he planted a Resident Evil 4 green herb in the teaser as an homage and says other RE4 items are scattered through the film; he reiterates the movie covers day-one of Raccoon City's outbreak and prefers telling a peripheral story rather than using core game protagonists.

The Horror Collective acquires Daniel Turres' Fresh Meat for distribution; acquisition brings the horror title into the Collective's slate as they expand festival-to-stream distribution channels and position the title for genre-festival play and VOD rollout.

Joseph Sperber's feature debut Behind Closed Doors begins production in Los Angeles as a single-location, real-time political thriller; cast includes Elijah Reed, Nick Samson, Melissa Alce, Christian Haines and Charrell Mack with BT Studios producing and Galileo Mondol and Aaron Schmidt attached.

New images from Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day spotlight a UFO arrival and Josh O’Connor as Daniel Kellner, a fugitive cyber-security expert; O’Connor calls the role an “unglamorous hero” and the film reads as a high-profile sci-fi thriller placement for Spielberg.

Hokum generated approximately $900K from North American Thursday previews, making it NEON’s second-highest preview for a release and outpacing Immaculate’s preview take; industry tracking projects a $6–8M opening weekend as it battles mainstream tentpoles.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass endorsed a 'no cap' California production tax credit and pushed for federal film/TV credits while opposing Paramount-Warner Bros. merger if it leads to job cuts, signaling continued local political pressure to keep productions in LA amid consolidation talks.

$94M box office haul; Hulu premiere date locked for Sam Raimi’s R-rated horror starring Dylan O’Brien, moving the title into streaming following a strong theatrical run and extending Raimi’s commercial resurgence in genre.

Netflix action thriller Apex hit No. 1 globally on Netflix for April 20–26 with 38.2M views and 60.5M hours streamed; Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton lead and Baltasar Kormákur directs, reinforcing Netflix’s continued investment in genre-driven star vehicles for streaming audience pull.

Paramount confirmed another World War Z entry at CinemaCon but omitted creative details; Mireille Enos says she has no official information on returning though past sequel talks included her character, leaving casting and Brad Pitt's involvement uncertain as the studio decides whether the follow-up will continue Gerry's story or tell a parallel tale.

Emmy prediction grid spots several genre-adjacent series as contenders versus reigning favorites; notable genre entries include IT: Welcome to Derry and Fallout, signaling awards voters' continuing appetite for horror and sci-fi prestige projects.

Chris Hemsworth and Boyd Holbrook have signed with Range Media Partners for representation; move consolidates talent relationships ahead of upcoming franchise and genre projects.

Variety rounds up 22 movies streaming in May including Sam Raimi’s Send Help to Hulu, Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire to Netflix, Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights to HBO Max and Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair to Peacock; rollout maps key studio-to-streamer windows for the summer season.

Sally Ware has joined 3 Arts Entertainment as a manager in New York; hire strengthens the agency’s management bench in a key market and may affect representation of rising indie and genre talent.

AMC reported CEO Adam Aron’s total 2025 compensation at $14.98M amid company financial moves including $244M in new financing and $169.6M raised via equity sales; company cited modest North American box office growth and recorded all-time records for per-patron admissions and F&B revenue, signaling exhibitor balance-sheet strengthening ahead of 2026 release slate.

Corus launches Vivéo, a French-language streaming service, expanding Canada’s francophone SVOD market and creating another regional distribution outlet that could affect French-language genre content commissioning and licensing dynamics in Canada.

Five new horror releases hit theaters and home platforms May 1, including Renny Harlin’s Deep Water, marking a heavy launch cadence for original horror in May and providing immediate VOD/theatrical programming opportunities for genre buyers.

A previously unseen 2.5-hour 1983 assembly cut of Gremlins was screened for select horror filmmakers and producers after Joe Dante donated his personal VHS; the archival version includes extended Gremlin sequences, alternate character beats and material absent from the 1984 theatrical release.

AMC is campaigning Upfront/awards season with titles like The Audacity and a revived The Lost Boys stage hopes, indicating network push to position genre properties in awards and mainstream conversation ahead of voter outreach events.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to SXSW winner Wishful Thinking, a supernatural-tinged romantic comedy starring Maya Hawke and Lewis Pullman, with a planned 2027 theatrical release and UTA negotiating the deal for the filmmakers.

Neon schedules Nicolas Winding Refn's Her Private Hell for a summer theatrical opening July 24 with a moderate release of roughly 800–1,200 theaters following its Cannes premiere; the rollout positions Refn’s latest for specialty-wide exposure in the U.S.

TrustNordisk has boarded international sales on Swedish sci-fi comedy-drama Arne Goes To Space and will launch at Cannes Marché; debut feature from Lars Vega follows two brothers whose lives shift after a 3-foot-tall alien named Roland appears, with notable cast including Rolf Lassgård and Kiran Shah and production support from Swedish Film Institute and SVT.

Salem Horror Fest 2026 opened under the theme “scratch the surface,” headlined by Dee Wallace with a keynote from Victoria Price; the festival continues to position itself as a curator of both legacy talent and emerging indie horror programming.

Rookie-led South Korean horror If Wishes Could Kill is drawing international attention and festival interest despite lacking star power; the title’s buzz demonstrates growing appetite for low‑budget K‑horror exports and talent discovery pipelines.

Tales from the Crypt is streaming on Shudder for the first time, expanding Shudder’s classic-horror catalog and offering the genre streamer a marquee anthology title to bolster subscriber retention and catalog-first marketing ahead of summer slate rollouts.

All 100 episodes of The 100 returned to streaming on Pluto TV on May 1st; CW original ran seven seasons (2014–2020) and is based on Kass Morgan’s novels, offering a full-series binge option on free AVOD after falling out of other streamer libraries.

Adam Meilech’s CONTENT, a meta-horror about a director stalking and coercing actors, is now available to buy and rent across UK, US and additional territories via Grimmvision with storefronts on Amazon, Apple TV, and YouTube, increasing digital availability for festival-to-VOD horror titles.

Eli Roth's unrated horror Ice Cream Man will hit theaters August 7; new image teases rabid kids violence and confirms Darrin Baker's casting as Principal Maloney, positioning the film as a summer R-rated genre play backed by theatrical distribution.

Peacock developing a scripted true-crime limited series based on the Gilgo Beach/Long Island serial killer case; Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and writer Jordan Hawley executive producing through G-Unit and UCP with the project inspired by Jackson’s Peacock docuseries and timed after the recent guilty plea in the case.

Neon theatrical horror Hokum opens in U.S., U.K. and Ireland May 1 and is theatrical-only for now; Neon/Hulu output deal points to a likely Hulu streaming window 3–6 months after release with digital rental on platforms like Amazon Prime to follow.

Neon-backed Hokum; editor Brian Philip Davis details how a tightly cut dumbwaiter chase sequence—kept deliberately obscured and paced with speed ramps—maximized dread by showing the witch sparingly and leaning on performance and curtain-obscured reveals; sequence variants were tested but the second half was locked early, delivering one of the film's standout scares.

The BBC's six-part espionage thriller The Little Drummer Girl has landed on Netflix and BBC iPlayer; Florence Pugh leads a cast including Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Shannon with Park Chan-wook directing, renewing interest in the 2018 limited series.

Netflix sets Aug. 7 release for Louis Leterrier’s sci‑fi survival thriller The Last House starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura; film centers on a family sealed inside their home, reinforcing streamer investment in high-concept, contained survival horror-thrillers.

20th Century Studios’ I, Robot lands on Hulu; the Alex Proyas sci-fi title previously grossed roughly $353M worldwide on a reported $105–120M budget, strengthening Hulu’s catalog of high-profile genre titles.

Battlestar Galactica and most spinoffs have returned to Paramount+ with large portions also available on Pluto TV; Caprica is highlighted as ready-to-rewatch material and the timing is pitched as a binge opportunity.

Apple TV+ launches comedy‑horror series Widow’s Bay (10 eps) in Canada April 29; Netflix debuts thriller limited series Man on Fire April 30 and true‑crime doc Should I Marry a Murderer April 29; Crave, Prime Video and Paramount+ also add new titles this week, making it a light but notable week for genre streaming premieres in Canada.

USA TODAY’s streaming roundup flags 10 notable new-at-home titles including survival thriller Apex on Netflix and slasher Dolly on Shudder, consolidating where genre viewers can find new horror and thriller fare across platforms.

Martin Scorsese’s The Departed is now streaming on Hulu; the Warner Bros. crime thriller boasts a $291M worldwide theatrical run and four Oscars, positioning it as a prestige catalog add for the service.

Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord reframes the Lone Wolf and Cub protector-child trope by positioning Maul as an active trainer to a Force-sensitive child, Devon Izara, potentially setting up a successor dynamic within the Disney+ era of Star Wars.

Damian McCarthy's Irish folklore horror Hokum is reviewed as the scariest movie of the year so far; the review emphasizes sustained dread, folkloric terror, and effective jump scares across multiple viewings.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues the MCU’s trend of crossovers by featuring the Punisher and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk alongside Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, maintaining the franchise’s reliance on established heroes rather than delivering a pure street-level solo Spider-Man story.

Musician-turned-filmmaker RZA blends horror elements into a new action-thriller titled One Spoon Of; piece explores how horror dollops inform tone and visual beats rather than announcing a pure horror release.

Shudder untangled long-stalled rights and landed exclusive streaming for all seven seasons of Tales from the Crypt; the acquisition is credited to former Shudder SVP of acquisitions Sam Zimmerman and signals Shudder’s continued push to own heritage horror IP.

Helluva Boss creators confirmed series endpoint planning—Helluva Boss concludes with Season 4 and Hazbin Hotel with Season 5; Brandon Rogers signaled Katie Killjoy is effectively irredeemable and discussed panel reaction and production evolution at LVLUP Expo.

Final volume of Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo (released May 1 in Japan) omits substantive details about Megumi Fushiguro’s fate, leaving fans frustrated despite new illustrations and epilogue notes; international release timing not specified.

20th Century Studios releases Sam Raimi’s darkly comic Send Help on 4K Ultra HD, Blu‑ray and DVD with over two hours of bonus features; SciFiNow is running a Blu‑ray giveaway to mark the home‑video launch.

An Ontario-based actor known for Heartland has booked a role in a new horror film, marking a local talent jump into genre work that could raise regional casting and production visibility.

Housemarque’s new PS5 AAA title Saros positions itself as a spiritual successor to Returnal with Rahul Kohli starring as Arjun; Kohli re-recorded most of his dialogue to better fit the game's bullet‑hell tone and Housemarque emphasizes immersion and 'mystery' over explicit cross-title reveals.

NEON unveils six first-look images for Na Hong-jin’s Hope ahead of its Cannes world premiere; the mystery-thriller centers on a remote village panic after a tiger appears and stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Taylor Russell, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender, amplifying NEON's festival slate and international genre buzz.

Blumhouse and Atomic Monster’s Other Mommy, directed by Rob Savage and adapted from Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel Incidents Around the House, stars Jessica Chastain and is set for an October 9 theatrical release; first footage teases a home-invasion/identity monster that impersonates the mother.

Chris Nash’s Sundance hit In a Violent Nature drops a trailer and is set for a May release; Sundance acclaim positions the slasher for genre-fest traction and potential distributor interest if wider rights remain unplaced.

Paramount sets Scary Movie reboot for June 6, 2026 wide; legacy cast returns including Anna Faris and Regina Hall and the new teaser parodies current zeitgeist targets like Michael Jackson biopic plus modern horror titles, positioning the franchise as a summertime counter-programming horror-comedy tentpole.

Shout! Studios dropped the trailer for Signal One, a sci-fi thriller from writer-director Jonathan Sobol starring Isabelle Fuhrman and Josh Hutcherson about risky communication with alien intelligence inside an isolated facility.

Found TV’s first in‑house production is a $10,000 found‑footage chiller, A Possession in Lincoln County, and an exclusive teaser teases demonic audio phenomena; Louie La Vella directs from Monica La Vella’s script with the husband‑and‑wife duo producing.

New trailer and poster arrive for Pitfall, a survival thriller from director James Kondelik about a hiker trapped in a pit after separating from friends; digital release slated in one month, signaling a VOD-first distribution push for indie survival genre fare.