ScreamWire Daily

Broadway greenlight; strictly limited 20-week engagement begins Aug. 14 with official opening Sept. 15 at the August Wilson Theatre; Jason Blum joins producers and Paramount/Blumhouse are partnering on the stage adaptation by Levi Holloway and director Felix Barrett; pre-Boston run set for July with the film franchise getting a new installment scheduled for May 2027.

Black Mandala’s Cannes market slate is led by John Jarratt starrer SHED and includes diverse genre titles like dystopian BOREALIS, Latin American horror A MOTHER’S RECALL, vampire tale BOOGIEVILLE and five Red Owl titles—positioning the boutique sales company as a buyer-ready genre play at Cannes.

Indie psychological horror THE THINGS WE HIDE started principal photography in New York with Lil Rel Howery, Angela Sarafyan and Manny Montana attached; Minerva Pictures boarded for world sales and will launch at Cannes, positioning the film for international presales and festival interest.

Prime Video's Sex Criminals series tapped Nia DaCosta to direct the pilot and second episode and serve as EP; the Image Comics adaptation will star Imogen Poots and John Reynolds and follows a couple who can stop time during sex and decide to rob banks.

Hollywood Ventures Group and Joe Smith’s Thirteenth Studios formed an exclusive partnership to develop Platinum Universe, a 1,300+ character independent comic/genre IP library spanning sci-fi, action, fantasy and horror; initial activation will target film, TV, animation, games and publishing with talent and studio talks underway.

Hulu’s X‑Files reimagining expands its guest roster with Amy Madigan, Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster and others joining leads Himesh Patel and Danielle Deadwyler; pilot director/writer Ryan Coogler and showrunner Jennifer Yale begin Vancouver shoot this month, signaling a franchise-scale genre commitment.

David Koepp is scripting a remake that returns to Michael Crichton’s 1973 Westworld for Warner Bros.; the project taps Crichton’s original film rather than the Nolan/Joy TV series and a major filmmaker is circling the project.

Author Freida McFadden praised Paul Feig's film adaptation of her thriller The Housemaid, applauding the cast—Amanda Seyfried, Sydney Sweeney, Brandon Sklenar—and revealed she's a fan of the movie's tone and ending; a sequel based on McFadden's follow-up book is already moving forward with Sweeney and Feig returning.

Amazon MGM Studios orders Fourth Wing as a Prime Video series; Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House, Locke & Key) adapts and showruns with Lisa Joy directing the pilot; Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Nolan executive produce, positioning the romantasy for global rollout on Prime Video.

Briarcliff Entertainment acquired domestic rights to Kevin Lewis’s holiday action-horror comedy Christmas at the Kringles, now in production in LA with a planned wide theatrical release in November 2026; acquisition secures a seasonal slot two years out and continues the commercial horror-comedy pipeline from Willy’s Wonderland alumni.

Warner Bros. developing a Westworld reboot as a feature film; David Koepp signed to pen the script with no director attached yet, positioning the studio to reintroduce the android-revolt IP for a theatrical/streaming-era reset amid AI zeitgeist.

GDH 559 will market two 2027 projects at Cannes—a gay comedy‑drama GFF from Banjong Pisanthanakun with twin directors Wanweaw and Weawwan Hongvivatana, and an Untitled Snooker drama thriller from Wattanapong Wongwan; GDH’s slate also includes upcoming horror Inherit with Banjong and Barunson E&A attached for non‑Asia sales.

Prime Video successor The Captive’s War; Naren Shankar boards as showrunner with Breck Eisner directing and Expanding Universe producing; authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck writing for TV while teams wrestle with translating heavy interiority and dozens of alien species that will drive VFX demands and a slow development timeline.

Ryan Coogler’s X-Files revival at Hulu has added Ben Foster, Amy Madigan and Steve Buscemi in guest roles alongside leads Himesh Patel and Danielle Deadwyler, expanding the high-profile cast for the streamer reboot.

Directors Guild of America begins formal talks with the AMPTP to close out the 2026 contract cycle with AI protections and healthcare funding central to negotiations; DGA health plan posted a $38M loss in 2024 and talks may mirror WGA’s approach of larger employer contributions in exchange for a longer contract.

$135 billion; Deadline highlights Netflix’s decade-long $135B content spend and the company’s global-local strategy, using the figure to defend continued heavy investment in production hubs and talent training even as rivals retrench.

$325 billion economic impact claimed; Netflix says it spent $135B on productions across 50+ countries and created 425,000 production jobs while citing flagship titles like Stranger Things and non-English growth as drivers of global production footprint.

Some 600 French film professionals, including Juliette Binoche and Adèle Haenel, signed an open letter opposing Vincent Bolloré’s plan to take full control of UGC; signatories warn the deal would concentrate cultural power and risk political influence over French cinema.

Culver City and FilmLA waived the $660 permit fee and daily location use fees, cutting a typical three-day shoot’s admin costs by about $1,700 (nearly 60%); changes pair with a $500K incentive, lower insurance minimums and FilmLA 'low impact' permits to attract LA production back from other states.

SAG‑AFTRA National Board approved the tentative AMPTP agreement and urges members to ratify; ballots mail May 14 with voting through June 4, 2026; deal addresses streaming economics, AI/digital identity, residuals and pension stability — a structural labor shift for film and TV production.

Na Hong-jin’s sci-fi thriller Hope is competing for the Palme d’Or at Cannes; Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony lands in Midnight Screenings and Park Chan-wook will preside as jury president, signaling a renewed Korean genre push on the festival circuit.

Entertainment 360 hires Alexandra Devlin from WME as a partner to expand its creator-economy and digital-native talent business; hire strengthens 360’s cross-platform packaging capabilities and follows Carlyle strategic investment in the firm.

Disney filed a Petition for Declaratory Ruling with the FCC arguing the agency’s probe into ABC’s The View threatens protected speech; Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez backed Disney in a letter calling the investigation a politically motivated pattern and pledging oversight and potential legal remedies.

Writers’ rooms have shrunk with streaming and mini-rooms now dominate development; showrunners prioritize diverse voices, assistants-to-staff pipelines still exist, and the WGA’s mini-room minimums from the 2023 strike have reshaped early staffing and pay.

BloodStream acquired the full five-film influencer horror series GAME for its platform; the buy demonstrates vertical consolidation of niche horror anthologies and strengthens AVOD/SVOD catalog offerings for influencer-driven IP.

The 2026 Rondo Awards winners were announced; the awards continue to spotlight classic-horror research, preservation, and fan scholarship with a large voting base reinforcing preservationist momentum in the horror community.

Winners of the 2026 Kurd Laßwitz Preis were announced May 11, recognizing achievements across German-language science fiction including authors, translators, and publishers; the awards reaffirm ongoing regional support for SF publishing and translation.

Well Go USA pre-buys Yeon Sang-ho’s Cannes-bound zombie thriller Colony starring Gianna Jun; worldwide distribution roster expanded ahead of the festival premiere, underscoring ongoing global appetite for Korean high-concept genre product after Train to Busan and Peninsula.

FilmNation has recruited Stacey Snider to partner with Glen Basner to position the company as a home for 'visionary filmmakers'; leadership says the company will pursue bold, auteur-driven projects and scale FilmNation's slate and festival/market presence.

A slate of 12 LGBTQ-centric features at Cannes includes a sapphic slasher among auteur and star-driven entries; genre-adjacent programming could amplify visibility for queer horror and expand buyer interest at market screenings.

Film Mode is prepping The Craving for Cannes with new sales art; Phoenix Raei directs a body-horror survival about a photographer turned flesh-eating infection vector, with Kate Lister, Anthony J. Sharpe and Nick Farnell attached.

StudioCanal has secured international sales rights for Guillermo del Toro’s 4K restoration of Pan’s Labyrinth and will roll out theatrical re-releases and a new 4K edition across key territories this fall with Cineverse presenting the restoration at Cannes Classics.

Black Zombie; director Maya Annik Bedward frames the zombie as a Haitian cultural practice tied to Vodou and enslavement rather than the Western flesh-eating trope; SXSW premiere positions the documentary as a corrective cultural claim that reframes an iconic horror monster’s origins.

NFMLA; NewFilmmakers LA alumni detail how NFMLA's programming and networking helped 18 filmmakers reach Sundance, spotlighting pipeline value for underrepresented indie talent and several teams planning features and labs next.

Yokna Hasegawa’s Cosmo Corpus premieres at the 26th Nippon Connection Film Festival; new trailer circulated and festival slot positions the film for genre-fest exposure but no sales or distribution deals disclosed.

Writer-director Curry Barker's feature debut Obsession weaponizes a novelty-purchase conceit into supernatural body-horror and a grotesque portrait of pathological codependency; debut marks Barker as a new voice in intimate, transgressive horror.

Marvel launches MIDNIGHT publishing line to reimagine X-Men, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man stories as horror tales; editorial strategy expands Marvel's genre slate and creates new IP for potential cross-media horror adaptations.

Les Films du Losange is handling international sales for Manuela Martelli’s The Meltdown, which world-premieres in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and uses horror-inflected visuals and child’s-eye ambiguity to probe family trauma and Chile’s transition from dictatorship, positioning the film as a genre-tinged festival play that could attract buyers seeking tense, artful thrillers.

Amazon has acquired multiple international territories for Neil Burger’s action thriller Barracuda starring Anthony Mackie and Dafne Keen while production continues in New Mexico; Highland Film Group and Image Movers co‑finance and UTA handles joint US sales.

Major release date change/delay announced for Henry Cavill-led Voltron movie, undermining previously marketed summer rollout and signaling studio recalibration of franchise tentpoles.

Warner press release confirms Lee Cronin's The Mummy digital debut May 19 and 4K/Blu-ray on July 14; home release includes 'A Bloody and Grotesque Spectacle' SFX feature and director commentary, and studio materials cite a $22M production budget and an $86M+ global gross to date.

Mortal Kombat III; writer Jeremy Slater confirms major character deaths in MKII are narrative setup for MKIII and teases ambiguity around Liu Kang’s fate and Cole Young’s continuing potential appearance; casting returns include Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Martyn Ford and others, positioning MKIII to explore game-canon storylines.

Now on Shudder from May 15; Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Spanish genre‑hybrid Que nadie duerma leans into dark drama and romance over traditional horror, delivering strong lead work from Malena Alterio but underwhelming scares for genre purists.