ScreamWire Daily

Fortitude International closed multiple international sales at Cannes on two genre titles: Scott Free/Gramercy Park’s They Like The Dark — described as The Raid with vampires; Mike Pecci directing, Ridley Scott producing, Gramercy financing, production slated for October in the US — and Chopra Jonas/Orlando Bloom action-thriller Reset — Matt Smukler directing, Chopra Jonas’ Purple Pebble and Bloom’s Amazing Owl among producers, production slated for August in the US; rights sold across Europe, Latin America, Asia and airlines.

Obsession opened to an estimated $16.1M domestic and ~$7M overseas for a $23.1M global start; produced for under $1M with Focus buying rights for a reported $14M, the film reinforces a growing YouTube-to-Hollywood funnel for low-budget horror and spotlights strong word-of-mouth metrics (94% RT, A- CinemaScore).

A24 closed a reported $17M buy on Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid at Cannes; Neon holds North American for Na Hong‑jin’s creature feature Hope while buyers generally showed muted appetite, elevating Black Bear and Warner/Clockwork as the most active U.S. market players.

Tubi and Warner Bros. Animation greenlit Yokoso Scooby-Doo!, the franchise’s first original anime series produced with OLM in Japan; Frank Welker and Matthew Lillard return as Scooby and Shaggy, the series is directed by Itsuro Kawasaki and reimagines the gang in a Japan-set, monster-filled mystery format.

Jason Blum is producing a Paranormal Activity stage production that has locked a Broadway date; the franchise is expanding into live theatre under Blumhouse’s banner.

7-figure studio deal closed at auction; 20th Century Studios won rights to Persona, which Paul Feig will direct as a modern erotic thriller adapted from Marc Guggenheim’s novella and being compared to Fatal Attraction.

FX has greenlit Very Young Frankenstein to series with Taika Waititi to direct the pilot and executive produce, Stefani Robinson writing and executive producing, and a cast led by Zach Galifianakis alongside Dolly Wells, Spencer House, Kumail Nanjiani, Nikki Crawford and Cary Elwes; project is a prequel-set horror-comedy with Mel Brooks attached.

FX / Hulu greenlights Very Young Frankenstein as a series order with Stefani Robinson writing, Taika Waititi directing and executive producing, and Mel Brooks onboard as EP; Zach Galifianakis leads a monster-comedy ensemble, reviving Young Frankenstein IP for a TV comedy that blends classic monster-movie parody with modern FX tone.

Warner Bros. is remaking Michael Crichton’s Westworld as a rebooted feature; the studio sees the project as an opportunity to reset the franchise and potentially expand on other Delos parks, opening franchise development pathways beyond HBO’s series.

Tubi; announced Yokoso Scooby-Doo! with Warner Bros. Animation and Japan's OLM providing production services; series reimagines Mystery Inc. in an anime setting with classic voices Frank Welker and Matthew Lillard returning and new characters joining the team.

Crime+Investigation UK commissions true-crime feature Live Stream Killer from Krempelwood and Longwave Studios; film is slated to air on the network later this year, giving both prodcos a broadcast outlet in Hearst's factual portfolio.

$17.2M opening weekend for Curry Barker’s debut horror Obsession; A- CinemaScore and strong word-of-mouth signal rare mainstream breakout for a low-to-mid budget genre title.

Warner Bros. Animation and Tubi board a new anime-style Scooby-Doo series, Yokoso Scooby-Doo!, casting Frank Welker and Matthew Lillard to reprise Scooby and Shaggy; the series transplants Mystery, Inc. to Japan and leans into monster-hunting beats to connect global fandoms and expand Tubi’s animation slate.

Movistar Plus restructured its content division under Juan Andrés García Ropero with four new units and named heads for Originals, Spanish Cinema, editorial development and entertainment; the shake-up follows executive departures and forms part of Telefónica’s broader Transform & Grow strategic reset, signalling tighter content strategy and potential shifts in commissioning for Spanish-language genre projects.

Chris Fondacaro, Marvel’s EVP of Global Brand & Franchise Planning and Head of Marvel Franchise, is exiting Disney amid a broader Marvel reorganization that has already included layoffs and Dan Buckley’s departure.

Screen International handed Global Production Awards in Cannes recognising global production and sustainability achievements — winners include Searchlight Pictures for Rental Family locations, NBCUniversal for sustainability on Jurassic World Rebirth and All Her Fault, Vancouver Film Studios as Studio of the Year, and Netflix receiving a special recognition award; the event underscores industry emphasis on sustainable production and location strategy.

Hungary’s new culture minister Zoltan Tarr pledged to reorganise film funding bodies to prioritise artistic merit and to preserve the Hungarian film tax credit, signalling continuity for inward production investment and potentially stabilising a key European incentive used by international genre shoots.

Netflix original-content performance is weakening across key metrics; weaker originals raise commissioning pressure on mid-budget genre projects and increase reliance on licensed IP and franchise safe bets.

Paramount launches a guerrilla promo for Passenger ahead of its May 22, 2026 theatrical bow, using a live costumed stalker billboard stunt to drive awareness; film stars Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, and Melissa Leo with André Øvredal directing, continuing Paramount's summer horror slate rollout.

Tim Burton is in Cannes pitching a closely guarded, top‑secret movie to buyers; no studio or talent attached publicly yet and speculation centers on revived passion projects like Medusa, Geek Love, or The Fall of the House of Usher while Attack of the 50 Foot Woman remains with Warner Bros.

Natalie Erika James' Saccharine — a Sundance Midnight body-horror — centers on a medical student who crafts weight-loss pills from human ash that summon an escalating ghostly threat; Midori Francis and Madeleine Madden lead a film that deepens James' folk/body-horror profile and is poised to attract genre buyers from Midnight programmers and specialty distributors.

Publicists at The American Pavilion laid out what actually sells films at Cannes; emphasis on strategic festival premieres, targeted market screenings, social-native assets, and long-lead press relationships reshaping campaigns for indie and genre titles.

Nick Cutter discusses his new novel The Dorians and how aging and wellness-culture anxieties inform his horror work; the piece signals sustained audience appetite for contemporary body/medical horror in the literary-to-screen pipeline.

Marvel reshuffle places Brad Winderbaum over comics, publishing and franchise with David Abdo as GM, reflecting Disney’s cost-cutting and strategic consolidation after ~1,000 layoffs; change signals tighter creative/operational alignment across Marvel IP.

Dan Buckley will depart Marvel after nearly 30 years but will stay through mid‑2027 to assist transition as Brad Winderbaum assumes expanded oversight of television, animation, comics and franchise functions.

Brad Winderbaum named Head of Marvel Television, Animation, Comics & Franchise with David Abdo joining as General Manager and Dan Buckley transitioning out by mid-2027; C.B. Cebulski remains Editor-in-Chief, signaling increased TV/comics alignment under Marvel Studios leadership.

LGBTQ body-horror short Four Itchy Boys — directed and written by Andrew Hebert and starring Nico Greetham, Booboo Stewart and others — debuted a bloody trailer and secured an official selection at Raindance’s 34th festival, positioning the short on the festival circuit for genre programmers and buyers.

Neon released the official teaser for Na Hong-Jin’s Hope following a Cannes standing ovation; ensemble cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Hoyeon, Zo In-Sung, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, and the logline positions the film as a creature-driven, escalating human-versus-cosmic tragedy set in a remote Korean village.

Lionsgate and Grindhouse Entertainment will release indie horror Amityville Shark House to digital platforms on June 30; the trailer leans into demonic possession tones more than creature-feature camp.

Dennis Iliadis’ Buzzheart drops a new trailer emphasizing a twisted in-laws horror dynamic as a shy teen faces escalating, brutal tests at a secluded family home; film promoted ahead of its Digital/VOD May 19 release.

Freestyle Digital Media sets a June 2 digital release for The Curse, a French psychological folk-horror about an agoraphobic Moroccan student in Paris; trailer emphasizes cultural dislocation and supernatural menace, marking a targeted VOD run for international folk-horror.

Apple TV+'s Widow's Bay DP Christian Sprenger outlines a deliberate visual strategy to hold horror and comedy in the same frame across the show's ten-episode run; Hiro Murai directs/EP and the production favors a unified atmospheric look that avoids telegraphing genre beats.

Na Hong‑jin says Hope was driven by ominous contemporary feelings and xenophobic themes, framing the film as a genre‑bending sci‑fi thriller that channels political unease into monster spectacle ahead of its wider release.

StudioCanal and Sun Africa Group signed a 3-year theatrical distribution deal covering StudioCanal’s English-language slate in South Africa including animation and films from its genre imprint 6th Dimension; Pressure is the first scheduled release and Sony/StudioCanal will also develop select South African productions with M-Net as part of Canal+’s Africa push.

Arthur Harari’s The Unknown is a 139-minute body‑swap neo-noir horror that follows a photographer who wakes up trapped in a woman’s body and launches a bleak, obsessive search to reclaim himself; the film leans into unsettling, art-house horror textures and a leading Léa Seydoux performance to sell its disorienting premise.

Director André Øvredal positions Passenger as a nonstop, night‑shot road horror that treats a moving car as a haunted house; he praises leads Jacob Scipio and Lou Llobell and outlines brutal on‑location conditions during production.

A feature documentary titled Get Me Doug Jones will profile creature actor Doug Jones' career from Pan's Labyrinth to The Shape of Water; the film examines practical performance and makeup-driven creature craft, spotlighting a key figure in genre acting.

Freestyle Digital Media schedules Moroccan folkloric horror THE CURSE for VOD on June 2, expanding Western distribution for North African genre cinema and signaling increased appetite for international folk-horror titles in the VOD marketplace.

Quentin Dupieux’s Full Phil is a 78-minute surreal chamber piece starring Woody Harrelson and Kristen Stewart about an estranged father-daughter dinner in a Paris hotel that morphs into absurd body-alteration horror as Phil literally begins to bloat; the film plays as late-night midnight fare mixing grotesque physical comedy with niche horror callbacks.