ScreamWire Daily

The Coven has launched international sales on survival psychological thriller Man Or Bear starring Lauren LaVera, directed by Teresa Sutherland and adapted from Jaime Saginor’s short Black Creek Trail; production is scheduled to begin this summer and the package trades on LaVera’s Terrifier franchise profile and viral TikTok premise.

Send Help; streaming debut hit No.1 on Hulu and Disney+ charts via FlixPatrol tracking; $94M global on a reported $40M production budget and a 93% Rotten Tomatoes critics score, confirming Raimi’s profitable return to R-rated survival horror starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien.

A24's Backrooms—Kane Parsons' feature debut adapted from his web series—credits producer Osgood Perkins and the Phobos crew as key mentorship and resource channels during a quiet Vancouver shoot; film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve and premieres May 29 theatrically under A24.

Tom Burke boards Please, Halina Reijn’s new film produced and financed by A24 with David Hinojosa producing and Zach Nutman exec producing; creative and casting details remain under wraps while A24 positions another director-driven title on its slate.

Festival execs cite Joker: Folie à Deux’s negative Venice debut as a key reason major studios are avoiding Cannes and other festivals; the piece notes studios fear losing control over early critical narratives after high-profile premieres and cites the sequel’s global haul and production budget as context.

AFCI and Stage 32 launched a global training partnership to tackle below-the-line crew shortages, rolling out certifications and courses starting in June to help jurisdictions build local crews that meet international production standards and qualify for incentives.

Blumhouse founder Jason Blum listed on LA500; profile underscores Blumhouse's genre footprint across film, TV and games and notes the January 2024 merger with Atomic Monster and the combined reported $9B lifetime box office haul tied to that slate.

Chris Bird launched two private AI ventures for filmmakers—HawksHead AI for predictive script/market analytics and CineMe, co-founded with Dan Hartley, to auto-generate photo‑real visual storyboards; both are in beta and include a CineMe Future Fund allocating 5% to a trust supporting workforce transition amid AI adoption.

NetherRealm and WB Games released Mortal Kombat II–inspired skins for Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition to capitalize on the film sequel's box office momentum, tying game merchandising to theatrical franchise performance.

Fox reports a 9% lift in primetime drama viewing led by Memory of a Killer, which amassed 18.4M multi-platform viewers, while Fear Factor: House of Fear delivered major unscripted lifts—boosting Fox’s unscripted and streaming performance across the season.

Mortal Kombat writer Jeremy Slater rules out resurrecting Goro for future sequels, prioritizing human-versus-human combat and prosthetics over large CGI monsters; the creative shift aims to keep fights visceral and reduce heavy CGI spend as MK II outperforms its predecessor at the box office.

Platform Lab returns to Sydney Film Festival June 8–13 with rolling applications for up to 12 Australian participants; program features mentors Samm Haillay and Mmabatho Kau and is supported by Screen NSW, emphasizing talent pipeline and industry networks.

Leaked details indicate Resident Evil 10 is in early pre-production with Claire Redfield returning as protagonist and Capcom using its RE Engine, targeting next-gen platforms possibly beyond current consoles.

Crossbridge Games Studios will release Drill Deep, a coalpunk Lovecraftian roguelite clicker, on Steam later this year; slow-burn cosmic-horror tone and gameplay focus make it a niche indie horror game to watch for genre cross-promotion.

RESO has launched a mid-career coproduction mentorship lab aimed at strengthening international producer partnerships and project pipelines; program details and application timeline to be announced via Playback.

Parrot Analytics data: Prime Video’s The Boys led Canadian demand the week of Apr 27–May 3, with Hazbin Hotel and Invincible also high on digital-originals charts; Crave’s Heated Rivalry and Letterkenny made the domestic digital list.

Studios are scaling back Cannes premieres due to seven-figure costs, risk of adverse critical blowback and tighter marketing control; the trend follows recent festival flops and middling returns (cited Indiana Jones and Joker: Folie à Deux examples) and is prompting festivals to reposition their value proposition to big studios.

Answr; completed psychological sci‑fi thriller is playing Cannes market with Gersh handling North American rights and Radiant Films International on foreign sales; Stephen Kay wrote/directed the film about a grieving man bonding dangerously with an experimental AI, starring Moises Arias and Piper Perabo.

Finecut closed sales across seven territories for Hong Sangsoo’s The Day She Returns following its Berlinale Panorama world premiere and has also acquired international sales rights to July Jung’s Dora; Finecut will screen first footage at Cannes Market for upcoming Long Long Night and Japanese horror-thriller Wash Away.

Fantastic Pavilion’s Gala Screenings at Cannes’ Marché du Film will present seven genre titles built for international sales and market traction, highlighting a slate heavy on psychological and atmospheric horror including Hinter, The Endless, Key of Bones and Last Chance Motel.

Chattanooga Film Festival dropped a third programming wave that includes world premieres NIGHT AFTER NIGHT by Josh Lobo and THE KING OF BLACK GOO, plus U.S. premiere of James Branson’s BUNNY, a NOCLIP 3 special screening and appearances from genre names Michael Dougherty and C. Robert Cargill; festival will also host interactive virtual events and genre-focused docs with partners including Arrow Video and Antenna Releasing.

Stephen Kay’s AI psychological thriller Answr, produced by a consortium including Timur Bekmambetov’s Bazelevs, is completed and holding a buyers screening at the Cannes market with Gersh handling North American rights and Radiant Films International on foreign sales; film channels Kubrickian AI imagery and positions itself for international sales in Cannes.

Festival premiere at Fantaspoa; Kapel Furman's Remanence blends cosmic horror and practical creature effects for a midnight-movie crowd, positioning the film as a practical-effects calling card on the festival circuit.

Mao Qichao’s Nie Xiaoqian updates the classic Chinese ghost tale with resurrection themes and contemporary sensibilities; review highlights supernatural elements and director's tonal approach, making it a notable East Asian addition to the supernatural/horror catalogue for festival programmers and genre buyers.

Indie horror-comedy Clownspiracy from writer–director Marc Tarczali premieres June 13 at Cinema Salem; small-town election-set satire follows a teen investigating spreading sinister clowns, positioning the film for regional festival play and grassroots theatrical push.

Oscar winner Melissa Leo leads Sean Byrne’s The Mannequin for Studiocanal’s Sixth Dimension with production slated for this summer and global sales commencing at Cannes; package includes Page 12 and Triptych producers with Steven Schneider among EPs.

USA Network; Anna Pigeon premieres Aug 7 at 10 p.m.; Tracy Spiridakos leads as park ranger-turned-investigator in a crime-of-the-week thriller based on Nevada Barr’s novels with Morwyn Brebner showrunning and Cineflix Rights handling international distribution.

NEON acquired Na Hong‑jin's Cannes-bound sci‑fi thriller Hope starring Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender and rolled a first-look clip ahead of the festival; the acquisition increases NEON's profile in high-concept international genre cinema.

Trailer for Hideki Takeuchi’s Viral Hit drops; genre-leaning marketing emphasizes contagion/viral panic themes and positions the project for festival play and international sales traction, marking it as an upcoming contender for buyers seeking pandemic-era horror/thrillers.

Netflix's 2025 Anaconda reboot starring Jack Black, Paul Rudd and Steve Zahn retools the original as a meta creature-comedy about fanboys remaking a B-movie; casting choices and tonal reinvention position it as a mainstream creature-feature play rather than elevated horror.

Curry Barker’s debut feature Obsession is a twisted, often uncomfortably funny horror-comedy about desire and consent that anchors a physically demanding lead performance from Inde Navarrette and will open in cinemas on May 15, 2026.

Miami‑Dade officers Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana sued Artists Equity and Falco Productions claiming defamation over Netflix’s crime drama The Rip; plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages plus a public retraction and a prominent disclaimer added to the film.

Paramount mounted location production for A Quiet Place 3 in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Mother’s Day, prompting resident backlash over pre-dawn explosions, street closures and parking loss and drawing criticism at City Hall for issuing permits; John Krasinski produces and Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Jack O’Connell, Jason Clarke and Katy O’Brian are attached while the shoot remains in-production in NYC.

Director BT Meza explains creative choice to place Affection's major twist early; film—starring Jessica Rothe and Joseph Cross—uses memory-reset premise to drive contained-horror structure and practical scares on limited theatrical rollout.

Supermassive’s Directive 8020 advances their choice‑driven horror formula into sci‑fi territory; derivative of Until Dawn mechanics but effective for late‑night co-op play and continues the studio’s niche as interactive horror storytellers.

Hideki Kamiya shut down fan backlash aimed at Adi Shankar over creator credit for Netflix's Devil May Cry by tweeting 'I'm not your damn mom,' defusing attempts to rope the game's original director into the controversy ahead of season 2.

Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios will premiere Batman: Knightfall Part 1 at an industry showcase as part of a multi-part animated event adapting the Bane-centered arc; the rollout signals continued franchise investment in mature animated DC properties with cross-promotion potential.

Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios will premiere Batman: Knightfall Part 1 at Annecy and present sneak peeks for multiple DC animated projects including Mister Miracle and My Adventures with Green Lantern, with Peter Safran and Sam Register hosting the studio’s showcase during the June festival.