The Wire
7Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Universal lock Jacob Chase for Sleepover, dated Oct. 8, 2027. Insidious: Out of the Further opens to $60.3M worldwide and lifts the franchise past $800M global; Chase co-wrote with Bryce McGuire from his short story.
A 5,000-person poll shows 18-29-year-olds are the most active theatrical demo, bolstering the case for youth-skewing horror and IP plays like Resident Evil while older-skewing star vehicles lag.
FilmIPVarietyAug 25
Rome shoot starts Sept. 7 on Patricio Valladares’ fantasy-horror take on Dante’s Inferno; Anxur Films and Skincrawl Studios are producing, while Valladares tees up Invoking Scream’s FrightFest premiere and an FMV horror game.
Production on Netflix’s Black Mirror Season 8 is already underway; Charlie Brooker’s new batch of episodes started shooting this summer, with no launch date set yet.
Caroline Kepnes boards as writer-director on The Attentionist, a lakeside slasher series adapting her 2022 short story for YouTube. The short-form project extends the You author into genre TV with a self-penned adaptation.
Mark Heyman’s directorial debut pairs Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Phoebe Dynevor, Jacki Weaver and Norman Reedus in a New Mexico retreat horror-thriller; Vertical has set a wide Jan. 1, 2027 release. Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa produces, and the MPA rated the film R for bloody violence, sexuality, drug use, nudity and language.
Range Literary Publishing lands Richard Kelly’s 800-page Donnie Darko sequel novel for Q4; the book is the launch pad for a planned animated/mocap feature and later live-action sequels tied to the cult IP.
Festivals & Markets
5IndustryHorrorFuelAug 25
Fantastic Fest returns to Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar Sept. 17-24, 2026; The Adams Family's The Glorious Dead joins a lineup built around world premieres and major releases.
Pimmada Chaisakcharoen’s Thai Horror ‘Tame’ Launches EST N8, BrandThink’s B-EST Pictures (EXCLUSIVE)
EST N8 and BrandThink have launched B-EST Pictures as a co-develop/co-finance/co-produce venture for films and live experiences, with Thai horror title Tame as the first package. The film heads to the Toronto market for international sales ahead of an Oct. 29 Thailand theatrical release.
IndustryHorrorFuelAug 25
GenreBlast locks its 10th edition for Sept. 3-6 in Winchester, Virginia; the indie genre lineup spans chillers, thrillers, and chucklers.
IndustryHorrorFuelAug 25
SXSW Midnighter Audience Award and Overlook Grand Jury Prize winner Never After Dark gives Dave Boyle a genre-fest runway with a supernatural horror thriller built for distribution chatter. The feature leans into grounded ghost-story dread and should stay on buyers’ radar after the festival prizes.
IndustryiHorrorAug 25
Ton of Hats mounts a Doris Bither haunt-case adaptation with Mike Hatton boarding as Jerry opposite Heather Graham and Mimi Rogers; the feature is set to world-premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026.
Broadcast & Streaming
3No. 1 on Paramount+ film charts; André Øvredal’s Passenger paired a $31 million worldwide theatrical haul with a streaming surge, giving Paramount Pictures a stronger post-theatrical tail than the box office suggested.
Shudder locks Parasomnia for an exclusive Sept. 4 streaming debut; writer-director James Ross II’s feature debut follows a night-terror spiral that turns supernatural. The launch gives Shudder another fall horror title and a fresh first-feature voice.
Tubi sets Buzzkill for Sept. 25 and drops first-look images on the YA sorority slasher; Jem Garrard directs from Suzanne Keilly's script, with Siena Agudong, Brec Bassinger and Aliyah's Interlude leading Blue Ice Pictures' production.
Noteworthy
13Warner Bros. has David Chase set to direct The Dealer’s Daughter as a feature, with Terrence Winter adapting the MKUltra book and production targeted for October. The package turns Chase’s first-look deal into a feature reset after the project was previously eyed as an HBO series.
Blumhouse Atomic Monster tops $1B worldwide YTD, powered by Obsession’s $501.6M, Backrooms’ $396.5M, and a $60M bow for Insidious: Out of the Further. The labels’ four horror titles were made for just $50.75M combined, while Other Mommy and Curry Barker’s next two releases keep the run going.
FilmComingSoonAug 24
Well Go USA sets a theatrical release for Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie feature Colony on Aug. 28, 2026; the director says AI research informed the creatures’ movement. The interview also frames the film as a return to the Train to Busan lane after his breakout hit.
Tribeca-premiered debut feature from Ben Sottak lands on Shudder in October; Milly Shapiro stars as a lone survivor in a plague-ravaged wasteland thriller.
Neon picked up It Ends after its SXSW launch and viral Letterboxd Video Store rollout, turning Alex Ullom’s debut into a distribution win after the film initially went unsigned. Neon also bought Ullom’s next feature, 4X4: The Event, before production; principal photography has now wrapped in Vancouver.
FilmDiari ARAAug 25
Robert Eggers is headed to Sitges to collect the festival’s Time Machine award for his contribution to horror and fantastic cinema. He’ll also show a clip from Werwulf, giving the next film an early genre-festival launch signal.
Shudder has greenlit the ninth V/H/S installment; the anthology pushes the franchise into music-and-sound obsession and is slated for an exclusive October bow on the streamer.
Insidious: Out of the Further is already at $60 million worldwide opening and pushed the franchise past $800 million; Chase says multiple post-Come Play projects were developed with Jason Blum and James Wan before the strikes, with Sleepover next.
FilmIPBloody DisgustingAug 24
AMC books the original Halloween trilogy for a three-night September theatrical run tied to Halloween: The Game; Halloween (1978) kicks off the event on Sept. 4.
FilmWorld of ReelAug 24
Venice is giving Casey Affleck’s gothic mystery a competition berth while U.S. festivals and distributors stay away; AGC is selling internationally as the film leans into a Europe-first rollout. Deauville and Zurich are next on the circuit.
FilmFirstShowingAug 24
Well Go USA pushes Joko Anwar's prison-set horror-thriller into U.S. theaters in October after festival bows in Berlin, Sydney and Karlovy Vary; the film mixes invisible-force gore, gang warfare and dark comedy.
Hulu sets the German vampire sci-fi mini-series for worldwide streaming in September; the Berlinoir adaptation turns a climate-dome Berlin into a blood-powered political battlefield.
IndustryTradingViewAug 25
Spin Master, Universal Products & Experiences and Ghost Galaxy’s Hellbreak™ horror TCG launches internationally in early 2027; asmodee will distribute exclusively in Europe and also handle Canada and Asia, with the first set exceeding 200 unique cards.