Horror Industry News — Sunday, August 23, 2026

Insidious: Out of the Further won Friday with $10.6 million from 3,303 North American theaters and is headed for a $23.7 million launch on an $18 million budget for Blumhouse and Sony.

$60 million Stanley Hotel expansion pushes the Blumhouse-curated horror museum toward an early-2028 opening; the project is 3.5 months ahead of schedule and backed by $47 million in public support plus a $400 million property acquisition.

People Media Factory has locked Upendra into Zombie Reddy Nxt Lvl, the sequel to Prasanth Varma’s zombie franchise; the team is targeting a 2027 rollout across seven languages. Suparn S. Varma is directing from a story by Prasanth Varma as the project expands into a bigger zombieverse play.

Breaking Glass Pictures is rolling out Smokee on Fawesome now and shopping additional streaming and digital outlets; the stoner horror-comedy sends a retreat group into a fight with a knife-wielding demon bear.

Wrath of the Gods closes Robin Hardy's Wicker Man trilogy, with Justin and Dominic Hardy mounting the final chapter from a newly uncovered script and filming the Shetland shoot in spring 2025 ahead of a FrightFest premiere.

Tubi has launched Terror on Tubi as a permanent horror hub built around 13,000 hours of genre content and 53 million monthly viewing hours; the AVOD player is adding Buzzkill, R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead 2 and creator-led horror series.

Padraig Reynolds’ creature horror rolls into select theaters on Sept. 11, 2026, then lands on digital Sept. 15; the Florida-set survival story pits vacationers against a cult sacrificing victims to an alligator god.

Long Beach Film Festival slots 'Nightmares on 4th Street' as a late-night horror short block on Aug. 29, 2026; the genre programming gives indie shorts a showcase but carries no sale or acquisition angle.

John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween is getting an official animated reboot with its full voice cast revealed; the franchise is also expanding with Halloween: The Game, launching September 8 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Uncork'd Entertainment takes U.S. and Canada rights to psychological horror The Room Below after AFM launch momentum carried into EFM; Blacktop International is still selling the cast-led title across remaining territories for a Q3 North American rollout.

March 20, 2026 theatrical, digital and on-demand launch set for Lionsgate's Do Not Enter; the David Morrell adaptation stars Jake Manley, Adeline Rudolph and Javier Botet, with Marc Klasfeld directing from a Stephen Susco script.

Netflix picked up both seasons of Pantheon after the series was pulled from its original home; the adult animated sci-fi drama now has a new streaming window and a much bigger audience runway.

Years in development; a fully cast version collapsed in pre-production before Blair and producer Alex Orr revived the project and shot it fast for a Sundance launch. The comedy opens in theaters Aug. 28.

Netflix’s licensed 91-minute crime thriller hits No. 1 worldwide one day after debut; the true-story title underscores the streamer’s steady appetite for fast-turn crime content.

Antony Coia’s cosmic horror short is already in production, with principal work starting Aug. 5, 2026 and post set for September; the project is being built through a fully local AI pipeline at OTX.LAB, with crowdfunding also planned.

Ryan Murphy tees up American Horror Story: 13 as a 13-episode crossover event, pulling characters from every past season back into the fold; Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, and Evan Peters are all set for multi-role returns.

Fede Álvarez’s survival thriller Don’t Breathe, which grossed roughly $157 million against a $10 million budget—about 15 times its cost—is officially leaving streaming.

Sicario 3 is back in motion, with Josh Brolin saying production should kick off soon. Taylor Sheridan’s crime-thriller franchise has already cleared $160M worldwide, keeping the long-dormant threequel alive.

Helen Mirren lands FilmFest Hamburg’s Douglas Sirk Award as FilmNation’s A Talent for Murder and Bunker head into the fall festival circuit. Patrick Schwarzenegger also takes Deauville’s Rising Star Award, keeping both psychological thrillers in the awards conversation.

A24's Primetime heads to Venice competition Sept. 5 before a Sept. 25 U.S. theatrical bow; Chris Hansen skipped a private screening after refusing the studio's NDA.