Horror Industry News — Thursday, May 14, 2026

Sastra Film International is shopping a horror-heavy slate at Cannes including English-language supernatural Faceless by Jeremiah Kipp and Mama’s Here; the Phnom Penh studio operates a 300-person hub, produced ten films last year, plans five English-language horror titles for 2026 and touts production costs roughly one-quarter of Western budgets while Death Marriage has grossed over $600K locally.

$70M worldwide rights deal closed by Amazon MGM Studios for David Gordon Green’s Supermax starring Will Smith; Miramax project will be a streaming-first release with production starting mid-August and The Picture Company and Westbrook producing.

Sanford Panitch argues theatrical remains the prime engine for creating global IP and points to Crunchyroll’s growth to 20M subs and Chainsaw Man’s theatrical run as proof; he urges earlier, trust-based Hollywood engagement with Japanese IP and warns streamers’ marketing structures limit franchise-building while noting roughly $20B a year is spent on streaming content.

Netflix has deliberately rebuilt a slate of original R-rated action/thrillers—examples include The Rip, War Machine, Thrash and Apex—that dominate global Top 10 charts and fill a theatrical gap left by legacy studios; the streamer’s in-house production plus selective partner pickups signal a strategic play to own adult-blockbuster audiences worldwide.

UTA indie sales head Rena Ronson flags elevated horror, action and international pre-sales as reliable indie categories and warns deals now take longer post-COVID; she launches multiple titles at Marche du Film and points to entrepreneurial models like Markiplier’s Iron Lung as shaping new distribution strategies.

Breakout director Curry Barker sold his feature Obsession for $15M after a viral $800 short; film made for under $1M, earned festival buzz and an initial NC‑17 rating trimmed to R, positioning Barker as a high‑value indie horror talent.

Amazon MGM reportedly paid roughly $70M for worldwide rights to Supermax; Will Smith will star and David Gordon Green will direct with writers David Weil and David J. Rosen, production set to begin mid/late August and the film expected as a streaming release on Prime Video.

Netflix Japan is developing Human Vapor, a contemporary sci‑fi horror reimagining of Toho’s The Human Vapor with Yeon Sang-ho co-writing and Shinzo Katayama directing, marking an international IP revival that taps Toho’s classic catalogue for streaming-first genre content.

REPLACER, written by Halsey and Avan Jogia with Jogia directing and Lilly Wachowski executive producing, is launching sales at Cannes; surreal psycho-sexual horror centers on a DJ in Montreal haunted by a signal that transforms people.

Fifth Season picked up international distribution rights to indie psychological mystery‑thriller Recap from K Period Media; the series stars Corey Stoll and Julia Stiles, is created by Adam Glass, Andrew Dabb and Justin S. Lee, and will be directed across all episodes by Richard Shepard with an indie financing model.

Vertical has acquired North American rights to Mark Heyman’s directorial debut Pendulum; Joseph Gordon‑Levitt, Phoebe Dynevor and Norman Reedus headline a paranoia-cult thriller; theatrical release set for January 1, 2027.

WTFilms boarded worldwide rights to Pascal Plante’s period survival drama King’s Daughters, a 1663 transatlantic odyssey with explicit folk-horror undertones starring Sandrine Bonnaire and shot in Montreal and St-Malo for a 2027 release.

Nabil Ayouch boards Noomi Rapace and Maryam Touzani to lead Run, With No Tears; psychological thriller about a lesbian couple adopting in Morocco begins shooting in September with Touzani and Ayouch credited as co-writers and Nisrin Erradi also attached.

Signature Entertainment acquires U.K. and Irish rights to Renny Harlin’s survival thriller Deep Water starring Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley; the shark-infested plane-crash pic from Arclight Film is being sold territorially by Signature with producers including Bob Yari and Adrián Guerra attached.

Kate Beckinsale has joined Jake West’s shark survival thriller White as an executive producer and actor; screenplay by Dan Schaffer, Katherine McNamara attached, principal photography begins this summer across Bulgaria, England and the U.S.

A coalition of international politicians led by Sam Liccardo and Deborah Ross warned David Ellison that the Paramount-Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will face rigorous regulatory review across the US and EU, flagging national security, CFIUS scrutiny over sovereign-wealth financing and risks to media plurality and editorial independence.

Joseph Gordon‑Levitt, founder of HitRecord and co‑founder of the Creators Coalition on AI, is campaigning for AI accountability while directing a Netflix AI thriller starring Rachel McAdams with Jeff Daniels, Joel Edgerton, Caleb McLaughlin and Nnamdi Asomugha attached; he pushes legislative and industry safeguards and wants studio‑AI partnerships that protect creators.

ITV confirms active negotiations with Sky over a potential sale of its broadcast and streaming business, with earlier reports citing a preliminary £1.6bn valuation and an earn‑out of about £200m tied to future performance; the deal could transfer Sky-owned series rights into ITV Studios and reshape UK production-distribution dynamics.

The Fantastic Pavilion is launching a vertical-horror showcase with plans for global expansion; the initiative creates a new curated channel for short-form horror and provides an acquisition path for international creators.

At Netflix’s Upfront event the streamer announced 40 U.S. scripted series for the year and rolled out new titles including Myron Bolitar and Barbaric while showcasing major talent appearances and advertising strategies as it expands ad-tier markets and podcast initiatives.

COL Group is expanding its U.S. push for vertical-video app FlareFlow; Jason Ander named Head of U.S. Partnerships and Eileen Low heads Asia sales while Timothy Oh adds CMO duties for FlareFlow alongside his GM international role; company hiring U.S. Head of Marketing and Head of Content & Operations next month as it moves beyond romantic microdramas into broader live-action, creator-led stories, branded entertainment and selective AI-assisted productions.

UK’s Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) has been recognised as an external whistleblowing body by parliament and will launch a first-stage reporting service in September, plus a registration funding model and plans for early-intervention functions by 2027/28; this creates new sector-wide accountability mechanisms affecting production workplaces.

Telefilm Canada committed $3.5M across eight minority-led co-productions aimed at boosting underrepresented creators; funding signals continued federal support for Canadian indie production and improves financing runway for diverse genre and non-genre projects.

Cannes competition still lags on parity; women direct 5 of main-competition films in 2026 (down from 7 in 2025) despite festival-wide initiatives and jury gender balance, spotlighting persistent systemic barriers in financing, mentorship and prestige placement that limit female auteurs’ access to top distribution and awards-launching slots.

Curry Barker is doubling down on genre filmmaking with a horror-heavy slate after a festival breakout; Barker balances scares and comedy and is advancing a Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot alongside new festival and distribution plans.

Versant beat revenue expectations with $1.7B in revenue and saw shares rise after platforms revenue growth led by Fandango and GolfNow; the company plans MS Now DTC and Fandango at Home AVOD launches in 2026 and is pursuing disciplined M&A and selective sports-rights deals.

Summer 2026 line-up maps studio risk: franchise sequels and tentpoles dominate May–July with genre highlights including A24’s Backrooms (YouTube-to-Hollywood adaptation) and late-summer experimental genre fare; Nolan, Pixar, Marvel and Disney tentpoles set the box-office tone and will determine release-window strategies for smaller genre titles.

Curry Barker, Inde Navarrette, and Michael Johnston discuss Obsession and Texas Chainsaw Massacre influences, offering creative insight into a contemporary horror production and casting/legacy touchpoints that may shape audience reception.

Merzigo hired Wendy McMahon as senior advisor for U.S. strategy and growth; the move signals distributor expansion into U.S. studio and broadcast partnerships that could open new windows for genre titles.

Damian Trewhella has filed a general protections claim against the Australian Film Institute and withdrew an interlocutory application for immediate reinstatement as CEO while pursuing the matter in Federal Court; action signals an internal leadership dispute with potential governance implications for AFI.

SBS, NITV and Screen Australia launch applications for the seventh Digital Originals round and advance five projects from the 2025 cohort into development funding; program expands pipeline for digitally native Australian narratives.

Distribution wins: one-shot possession horror Bury The Devil secured Brainstorm Media for US rights and Black Fawn for Canada alongside multiple international deals, with Blue Finch Films handling UK-Ireland, Australia and New Zealand release; the film centers on a nurse trapped in a dementia patient’s house where demonic forces seep through the cracks.

Colin Minihan boards Stung, a suburban survival thriller about an Orange County home besieged by Africanized killer bees; Justin Long and Iris Apatow lead, VMI Worldwide launching international sales at Cannes.

Film i Väst unveiled eight Cannes co-productions including Lone Scherfig’s Cold War-set romantic spy thriller Honeytrap and a psychological thriller Run, with Noomi Rapace attached; Gustaf Skarsgård directs a meta ‘terrifying celebration’ The Cannibal that leans genre-defying and invokes Bergman as a demon, signaling stronger auteur-driven genre entries out of Scandinavia.

A24 pre-bought North American rights to Panos Cosmatos’s 1980s-set vampire thriller Flesh of the Gods, now in production with Kristen Stewart and Wagner Moura attached and global rights on sale at Cannes.

Sci‑Fi‑London’s 26th edition is running May 13–17 with nine features and five shorts programs; early highlights include Jonathan Sobol’s Signal One, Sandro Arceo Espinosa’s Beings and Sebastian Badarau’s The Uncertainty Principle, underscoring the fest’s mix of cerebral, dystopian and humanist sci‑fi.

Inside Out tapped eight projects for its international finance forum; selected titles gain access to buyers, gap financing and co-pro introductions that can accelerate festival-bound genre titles into production.

Ignite Films announced at Cannes that it will release 4K Ultra HD editions of genre titles including Society (1989), Horror Express (1972), Bloody Birthday and The Baby in 2027, signaling continued catalog investment in horror home video.

Webtoon Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation add four more co-produced animated projects—The Wolf & Red Riding Hood, Vampire Family, Sable Curse and Snow and Briar—to their earlier 10-title slate, reinforcing the pair’s push to mine Korean and English Webtoon IP for global animation pipelines.

Paramount acquired in-development spy thriller Doppelgänger and has Aneesh Chaganty set to direct with Tom Cruise loosely attached to star as a CIA agent; Ryan Coogler is producing and Paramount chief David Ellison has already invested multiple millions into development as Chaganty rewrites the script.

BET partners with microdrama platform aTwist to co-develop microseries with a windowed distribution model—BET gets a limited first-run on long-form episodes before aTwist re-edits them for mobile-first microdramas; slate will include horror among other genres and targets low-cost scalable production.

Jeremiah Kipp wrapped production on Cambodian-shot supernatural horror Faceless; the film follows YouTube ghost-hunters confronting an evil force and stars Bella Mraz, James Preston, Holley Johnson and Ryan Bertroche, now completed and seeking distribution.

Cast and creatives frame the film as a 'trans sapphic ode'; Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson discuss intense blood-heavy shoots and the film’s themes of sexual liberation and queer desire, with Plan B producing and Mubi/Madman attached for distribution.

Punisher: One Last Kill adapts key beats from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s 'Welcome Back Frank' by reintroducing Ma Gnucci (Judith Light) and her crime family into the MCU; adaptation remixes characters and outcomes for Disney+’s Special Presentation format while leaving potential for future tie-ins.

A24’s Backrooms feature traces its origin to a single Oshkosh photo that spawned the creepypasta; the original location inspired lore but was not used for filming and the A24 movie will screen at Marcus Theaters on Memorial Day, reinforcing A24’s continued investment in internet-born horror IP.

Cineverse acquired digital rights to horror-tinged Balearic for its Fandor platform; the film follows three teens trapped in a luxury pool by ferocious dogs and will be distributed on Cineverse’s arthouse streamer.

Capcom flagged a strategy to 'nurture' select brands in its recent earnings report, naming Dead Rising as a target for growth and signaling potential franchise expansion across media and future tie-ins.

One Last Kill functions as a self-contained 45-minute Punisher primer; Jon Bernthal stars and co-wrote, Reinaldo Marcus Green directs, and the piece leans into brutal, R-rated violence while positioning Frank Castle for future MCU appearances.

Peter Jackson likens his new Gollum film to Joaquin Phoenix’s 'Joker' in tone and says he’s writing the 'Tintin' sequel while accepting an honorary Palme prize; comments position Jackson’s projects as auteur-driven franchise extensions rather than pure genre horror.

Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession positions itself as a wish-fulfillment horror in Blumhouse’s slate; writer-director Barker fronts a tense, gore-forward psych-horror starring Michael Johnston and breakout Inde Navarrette, emphasizing domestic body-horror visuals and synth-forward scoring.

A24 releases final promo trailer for Backrooms; Kane Parsons (Kane Pixels) directs an A24-produced feature adaptation of the creepypasta/webseries starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, and Mark Duplass, poised for a wide late-May theatrical launch and positioned as a potential sleeper horror hit.

IFC releases bloody one-sheet for Chum, a Mediterranean yacht-set survival thriller directed by Jonathan Zuck starring Alice Eve and ensemble cast; theatrical release June 5 positions Chum among a renewed wave of shark-centric horror this summer.

David Howard Thornton, famed for Art the Clown, takes his first speaking role in indie horror The Dead Place; the film streams exclusively on BloodStream June 1 and hits VOD August 5.

The Asylum drops trailer and art for Shark Thrash, a storm-driven shark survival pic directed by Marcel Walz; writers Jacob Cooney and Jason White penned the script and the film hits digital May 15 with a cast led by Adam Huss, Gina Vitori and Rachel Emma Goodwin.