Curry Barker, Obsession & Sony Pictures

Sony’s Screen Gems boards a live-action Mouthwashing adaptation; Karyn Kusama directs, with Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay scripting and Scott Derrickson producing.

Paramount is keeping Smile alive with David Bruckner replacing Parker Finn in the director's chair and Nick Antosca scripting the sequel. The franchise has already cleared $355 million worldwide on a sub-$45 million combined spend, making Smile 3 a fast-track horror priority.

$500M-plus worldwide on a reported $750,000 budget has turned Obsession into a breakout; Barker follows with Mama Bear, a 2027 Blumhouse-Atomic Monster/Spooky Pictures feature, while his Texas Chainsaw Massacre reimagining stays attached.

HBO and Universal Global Television are fast-tracking a limited-series reimagining of The Birds with Sarah Snook attached; Daphne du Maurier’s short story is the source material behind the update.

Prestige International Pictures picked up all sales rights outside Latin America to SXSW Midnighters body horror Fifteen ahead of AFM; the Mexican-Argentine coproduction follows a quinceañera that turns monstrous.

Alliance Media Partners has boarded worldwide sales on Tim James Brown's techno-horror Modem ahead of AFM; the Sweden-set debut feature pairs a family digital detox with a demonic modem attack.

Apple TV and Legendary are in talks to keep Monarch: Legacy of Monsters alive for season 3, but the next pass would bring new writers and a fresh creative direction.

Jason Perlman’s YA horror pic Bad Influence has wrapped and added John Cho, Ethan Suplee, Danny Jolles, Arnas Fedaravičius, Ana Ortiz, Jacob Vargas and Michelle Macedo to the cast; Capture is handling sales.

Warner Bros.’ Them! remake is back in motion after a merger-related stall; Michael Giacchino says the project is being pushed forward again with Matt Reeves now producing. The current script reportedly pivots the 1954 creature feature into an immigration story, with no cast or release date yet.

Amazon MGM is developing The Courier as a series adaptation of Melinda Leigh’s new thriller novel; Martin Gero’s Quinn’s House and Premeditated Productions are under exclusive Amazon deals, with Gero set to write, showrun and executive produce.

Creator-led horror is becoming a studio-wide pipeline, with Blumhouse, Warner Bros., Sony, Lionsgate, Amazon MGM and A24 all circling projects from digital-native names. The shift is being powered by Gen Z fandom and measurable horror engagement on TikTok and Twitch.

Horror overtakes comedy as the top U.S. genre at 11.4% preference, with Ampere flagging record SVOD supply at 5,462 hours and strong pull from 18-44 demos.

Horror remains the cleanest comp set for box-office forecasting; low-budget titles still offer the genre’s sharpest upside and the most volatile tracking outcomes.

Carrie and Crystal Lake pushed horror back to the top of Nielsen’s streaming charts, with Carrie above 1 billion viewing minutes and Crystal Lake debuting at 774 million; Below led the week at 1.3 billion minutes.

Japan’s anime business hit a record $28.18BN in 2025, with overseas revenue up 17% to $16.1BN and domestic sales up 14%; production companies are holding more IP as exports target $127BN by 2033 under the government’s IP360 push.

42nd-edition Imagine stacks 72 features and 55 shorts across horror, fantasy, and sci-fi; first looks include Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony, Na Hong-jin’s Hope, and Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero.

Paolo Strippoli’s The Holy Boy hits Shudder and AMC+ on November 27, 2026 after a Fantastic Fest run that earned it Best Director and Best Picture. The streamer is turning the supernatural horror title into a late-November genre pickup.

Kevin Loader produces; FilmNation and UTA handle worldwide sales, reuniting Loader and FilmNation with Iannucci after The Personal History of David Copperfield.

SAG-AFTRA, the WGA and AFM are urging a federal judge to reject a blanket fair-use shield for AI training; the brief argues unlicensed model training would transfer value from creators to OpenAI and other developers.

94.95% of SAG-AFTRA members ratified the TV animation contracts; the four-year deal delivers a 12.6% wage increase, stronger AI protections and better residuals, retroactive to July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030.

TBellScout has acquired Flawless’ TrueSync dubbing tech and DeepEditor after Flawless Holdings entered administration; the sale leaves the AI dubbing pioneer’s UK business in limbo while co-founders Scott Mann and Nick Lynes keep the U.S. unit and hunt for a new venture.

Chase Sui Wonders is in talks for A24’s Goblin, a David Mikalson feature that’s already set up production next year with Kenneth Branagh voicing the title character. Skyler Gisondo and Will Forte are also on board, but the project is a raunchy comedy, not a horror play.

Eggers and Ethel Cain lock in a new Werwulf track, with the single arriving ahead of the soundtrack and the film’s holiday release window.

The Town That Takes hits digital rental and purchase Nov. 7 after a limited theatrical run; Britt Bankhead’s supernatural horror-thriller goes wide across Apple TV, Prime Video and Fandango.

Warner Bros. Clockwork is keeping the NC-17 Director’s Cut of Ken Russell’s The Devils in theaters indefinitely after the extension followed a strong limited run; the restored horror classic is now operating as an open-ended theatrical play.

Well Go USA sets Don’t Move for Blu-ray and DVD on Dec. 15; Maclain Nelson’s horror-thriller, based on James “Murr” Murray and Darren Wearmouth’s novel, stars Lyndsy Fonseca, Russell “Russ” Vitale and Tom Cavanagh.

Ron Perlman and Theo Rossi quietly shot a secret horror feature together; the project is still being kept under wraps.

Disney licenses Star Wars and Marvel soundboards to Voicemod, giving the AI voice platform access to quotes and effects from The Mandalorian & Grogu and other titles; another sign studios are testing controlled IP use inside AI tools.