Horror Industry News — Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Obsession has crossed $400 million worldwide on a reported $750,000 budget, making Focus Features’ horror title the highest-grossing sub-$1M film in history before inflation. The run reaffirms the commercial ceiling for ultra-low-budget horror after a $17 million opening weekend turned into a late-leg breakout.

Spooky Pictures and Image Nation are teaming on V/H/S: SCP, the franchise’s first feature-length take on the SCP Foundation universe; Roy Lee and Steven Schneider produce, with a theatrical release eyed for 2027.

1% backend fight over Terrifier profits survives dismissal; court will decide whether Catherine Corcoran’s deal covers only the 2016 film or the full franchise, including merch, streaming, and related IP. The ruling keeps the core contract claim alive while tossing the revenge-porn theory tied to the Dawn kill scene.

Lee Cronin's The Mummy cleared 4x its $22M budget and is now the top movie on HBO Max; the Warner Bros., Blumhouse, and James Wan-backed reboot lane is proving it can still sell brutal, elevated horror at both the box office and on streaming.

Toho is bundling its Godzilla library into a Japan-only subscription tier, turning more than 30 kaiju titles into recurring digital revenue. The service sits inside Toho’s broader distribution ecosystem and uses viewer data to curate monthly lineups.

HorrorHound TV launches with Stairs as an inaugural free title; the short doubles as proof-of-concept for Michael Kuciak’s feature version now in development.

Fantasia marks its 30th edition with 125 features, 200+ shorts and a stacked world-premiere slate; Hot Spot, You Are the Film, The Eyes and Village of the Eight Gravestones anchor the program, while Bruce McDonald lands the Canadian Trailblazer Award.

Toho’s Godzilla Minus One Blu-ray is landing with US import retailers, with the Japanese disc listing English subtitles on overseas-facing editions and pricing around ¥5,500 before shipping. The home-video rollout keeps regional licensing fragmented even after the film’s Oscar-winning run.

Apple TV has lined up Guilty Creatures as a true-crime thriller series; Julia Garner stars and executive produces, with Craig Gillespie directing and Sarah DeLappe adapting Mikita Brottman’s book. Tomorrow Studios produces as Apple keeps building out its prestige thriller slate.

Screen Queensland-backed survival thriller Jump is set to film on the Gold Coast with Bella Shepard and Luciane Buchanan aboard; the Australia-New Zealand co-pro is pegged to inject $3.1 million into Queensland and employ 59 local cast and crew.

Fantasia adds world-premiere short IDOLS to its 30th edition; the Seoul-shot doppelganger thriller comes from writer-director Matt Halsall and global backer Samansa, with Ho Jo playing dual roles and Pierce Conran producing.

Vera Drew will direct Trandemic, a cosmic found-footage horror comedy and the first project selected by the Transgender Film Center Found Footage Feature Fund; the package includes a $25,000 grant, Duplass Brothers mentorship, and post/sound support.

Jane Schoenbrun is set to write, direct and EP a Netflix series adaptation of Charles Burns’ Black Hole. Mubi is also lining up Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma for an Aug. 7 theatrical release, with Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder leading the queer slasher satire.

Mayhem opens 2026 early-bird passes at £95 through Aug. 10 before full-festival passes rise to £105; the Nottingham genre fest returns Oct. 15-18 with a special screening of Survive Style 5+ and shorts submissions still open.

Netflix and Toho are teaming on Human Vapor, an eight-episode reimagining of Toho’s 1960 cult classic, directed by Shinzo Katayama and written by Train to Busan’s Yeon Sang-ho with Ryu Yong-jae. Ted Sarandos named it a flagship 2026 title; Shirogumi handles VFX.

R.L. Stine’s Stuff of Nightmares: The Cat in the Coffin #1 arrives August 26 from BOOM! Studios, with art by Matthew Dunn and covers by Francesco Francavilla, Reiko Murakami, Adam Gorham, and Ito; a broke son steals his mother’s stuffed black cat and unleashes a curse.

Halloween: The Game gets physical PS5 and Xbox Series X editions on Oct. 6, 2026, with a $39.99 Standard Edition and $149.99 Limited Collector’s Edition from Nighthawk Interactive. IllFonic also unveiled Orange Grove Estates, a new Haddonfield map inspired by Halloween (1978).

Christopher Nolan puts Guillermo del Toro’s monster philosophy behind The Odyssey’s creature work; the IMAX-shot epic carries an estimated $250 million budget and leans on puppetry, animatronics and robotics instead of CGI.

Itziar Ituño and Vito Sanz have landed starring roles in sci-fi drama series Numana, from creators Jesica Arán and Soledad Velasco and producers Clara Films and Unbound Hub. Now in packaging and financing, the European–Latin American co-pro follows a surveillance-state future led by AI Aurora.

Netflix’s Worst Neighbor Ever is Blumhouse’s latest Worst Ever anthology entry after Worst Ex Ever and Worst Roommate Ever; the four-episode Netflix true-crime series examines real cases of violence between neighbors.

Bloober Team has released a new developer diary, “Becoming the Warden,” for Cronos: Lazarus, the DLC for Cronos: The New Dawn. The video spotlights The Warden, who will emphasize faster, more aggressive action than The Traveler in the main game.

StudioCanal, Fathom Entertainment and Rialto Pictures will re-release James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day for its 35th anniversary Aug. 28 in U.S. theaters, with global dates starting Aug. 27; the $517M-grossing sequel returns in 4K, RealD 3D and premium formats.

Robert Saucedo, Debora Lancianese and Jack Morelli reunite for Curse of the Where Wolf, an all-new horror-comedy graphic novel from Encyclopocalypse Publications due in August; it follows reporter Larry Chaney, now a werewolf, seeking a cure.

Obsession arrives on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray in July, giving home viewers a chance to catch the nightmare horror title after its theatrical run.

SB Productions has released the poster and trailer for 12 Hours, a psychological horror short from writer-director Mohamed A. Bere, ahead of its festival run. Mimi Dybs stars with Hettie Lynn Hurtes and Reid Schmidt; festival dates and premiere details are due soon.

Exclusive clip from Pinocchio Unstrung shows the living puppet visiting a hospital in the fairy-tale horror film. The footage teases the movie’s dark twist on Pinocchio.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu’s final trailer teases a July release for the co-op Lovecraftian game, following a Steam Next Fest demo that drew more than 300,000 players.

Finishing funds are being raised for T-REXORCIST, with Jon Killough scripting and Brett Piper and Eve Mencke handling effects; Rosaria Eraso, Tim Hale, Chad Critelli, Fred Munkachy, Kristina Santiago, and Floyd Ewing Jr. are in the cast.

35mm medieval werewolf feature keeps Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe in Robert Eggers' orbit; Focus Features is targeting a Christmas Day U.S. theatrical launch. Eggers says the mythology strips out the usual silver-bullet camp and leans hard into a brutal, texture-heavy creature feature.

Apple TV pushes its Neuromancer adaptation into post-production with Graham Roland and J.D. Dillard steering the cyberpunk series; the teaser confirms Callum Turner, Briana Middleton, Mark Strong, and Clémence Poésy as the cast build out a marquee sci-fi play for the streamer.