Horror Industry News — Tuesday, September 1, 2026

AMC Theatres is launching Leawood Films, a new indie distribution label aimed at small and mid-budget titles; Toby Emmerich, Ricky Strauss and Kyle Davies are advising the move.

Leonora Ann Darby is suing Tea Shop Productions’ James Harris and Mark Lane over an alleged promise to treat her as an equal producer on Obsession, claiming she was cut out of net profits after helping restore the cut and push supernatural reshoots; the horror hit crossed $500M worldwide on a reported $750K budget after a TIFF sale to Focus Features for $16.2M.

Barunson E&A launches international sales on Joko Anwar’s Satan’s Slaves: Origin at TIFF: The Market; the Indonesian horror prequel is in pre-production, spans two continents and seven languages, and is targeting a 2027 theatrical rollout.

Nancy Won is on board as showrunner on HBO Max's Conjuring series, with Peter Cameron and Cameron Squires in the writers room; the project remains in development with no formal series order, cast, or episode count announced.

Strand Releasing has picked up U.S. rights to The Blood Countess, setting a spring 2027 theatrical rollout off its Fantastic Fest world premiere. Isabelle Huppert boards as Elizabeth Báthory in the vampire-tinged horror feature.

Well Go USA has taken North American rights to Yeon Sang-ho’s Paradise Lost ahead of its TIFF world premiere. The AI-driven psychological thriller follows a mother who recreates her dead son, then faces the return of the real one.

Screambox has wrapped production on Your Dearest Darkest Friend, a half-hour horror talk series hosted by Ted Raimi and built around interviews with genre luminaries over cocktails. Halloween-season debut is next on deck.

Federal film incentive push gains bipartisan backing from the MPA and Adam Schiff after the US president vowed to fast-track a nationwide production credit; the move targets runaway production and could reshape U.S. shoot economics if Congress bites.

Paranormal Activity - Live on Broadway officially opened Aug. 25 at the August Wilson Theatre; Jason Blum is producing the 20-week limited engagement alongside Paramount Pictures and stage partners after sold-out runs in London and Los Angeles.

Specialty labels now need a clear commercial hook, not prestige alone; A24’s Backrooms and Neon’s Longlegs are held up as the kind of genre-driven titles that can deliver 10x-plus ROI, while awards-minded dramas without an audience angle keep missing the mark.

Casting director Wittney Horton says 19-year-old Kane Parsons wrote Chiwetel Ejiofor an “incredible” letter to join A24’s Backrooms, which also cast Renate Reinsve and Mark Duplass after beginning as YouTube shorts and grossing nearly $400 million worldwide.

Sitges and Sanfic widen the genre-financing pipeline with a new WomanInFan Southern Cone partnership, plus Fantastic WIP for projects in post. The lab will again pick six Latin American genre projects and can award co-financing of up to 20% of final budget alongside Cannes Fantastic Pavilion access.

Busan has locked a 246-title lineup with 14 Competition entries, 12 world premieres and Oscar-qualifying stakes for the section winner; Korean horror Shaving is among the competition titles.

Tubi FrightFest closes with Marion Le Corroller’s French body-horror debut Species; the 2026 edition runs 82 films with 24 world premieres from 16 countries. The piece also frames Species as the latest entry in the female-led French body-horror wave that includes Raw, Titane and The Substance.

Hannah Fierman boards werewolf feature Beware the Moon, adding a recognizable genre face to the cast.

Black Label Media has financed Copperhead and stacked Miles Teller with Jason Momoa, Tenoch Huerta, Adria Arjona and Kiefer Sutherland ahead of Black Bear’s TIFF sales launch; John Swab rolls cameras in September.

Hearst Networks, Spirit Studios and BossaNova Media ordered 90-minute Lizzie Borden: 40 Whacks and two-part Aileen Wuornos: Damsel of Death for Crime+Investigation UK, premiering Sept. 27 and Oct. 4 at 9 p.m.; both use AI-built worlds and live actors.

Universal’s The Exorcist: Martyrs is locked to a 120-day theatrical run, then a 4-month Peacock window before Netflix takes the film for 10 months. The March 12, 2027 theatrical date would put the Netflix debut in November 2027 under the current windowing stack.

A24 opens Adam Wingard’s action-slasher in U.S. theaters Sept. 4; Antenna Entertainments takes Malaysia. Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn and Drew Starkey star in the You’re Next/The Guest-linked package.

$10 million Mubi-backed horror crossover turned cult breakout after A24 passed; Mubi funded and launched the film with Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner producing, then leaned into experiential fan marketing to fuel the run.

Josh Duhamel boards John Kissack’s vintage-dummy horror thriller Speak; CAA Media Finance has financing and co-reps U.S. distribution as Twenty-Nine Palms launches the package at TIFF Market. Principal photography is set for October, targeting a 2027 worldwide release.

Adam Wingard says he’d look at a new A Nightmare on Elm Street script if the concept lands, but he’s not attached; he also teases another project he’s been developing in the same nightmare vein. The Elm Street reboot hunt still has Warner Bros. and Paramount circling talent.

Hulu renewed Furious for season 2 after the serial-killer drama broke out; Liz Meriwether says Lola Petticrew’s one-year deal limits Catherine’s return, keeping Emmy Rossum at the center as the FBI squad resets. The renewal locks in a second-season pivot while signaling a cast reshuffle.

Level 33 Entertainment has taken exclusive U.S. and Canada theatrical rights to Ever After; the horror fairy-tale mashup opens September 4 with Mark Sheppard, Bonnie Aarons, Michael Berryman, Kane Hodder and Malcolm McDowell in the ensemble.

Zack Snyder’s The Last Photograph lands a TIFF 2026 world premiere slot, keeping his independently financed revenge thriller in the festival conversation ahead of market activity. Stuart Martin, Fra Fee, Jackie Kay and Carolina Henao are among the cast.

Watermelon Pictures drops the trailer for the Alex Odeh assassination doc and sets a select U.S. theatrical rollout for Oct. 30. The Sundance/Berlinale title, co-directed by Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans, keeps its festival momentum as it moves into release.

Frydeix Productions’ UNT!TLED crossed 200,000 YouTube views on the pilot; the indie comedy-horror series now has three episodes out, a movie compilation live, and more episodes in production.

CERO has blocked the PlayStation release of IllFonic's Halloween: The Game in Japan, cutting off the platform launch after the rating denial.