Howdy, folks! It’s Sunday, which means it’s time for the horror haul, our regular round-up and one-stop-shop for all things horror. This week in horror news,Annabelle: Creationblasts Warner Bros. and New Line’s growingThe Conjuringuniverse past $1 Billion at the box office,Anya Taylor-Joyreunites with herThe WitchdirectorRobert Eggersfor his upcomingNosferaturemake, the Lovecraft-inspired open-world investigative video gameThe Sinking Citylands a publisher, andRob Zombiesigns on to head up HDNET’s 13 Nights of Halloween.
Elsewhere, we’ve got a big haul of new horror trailers this week, including an English Language trailer for theInsideremake, the TIFF contenderPyewacket, the FrightFest slasherRuin Me, and more. In the realm of TV, we’ve also got new looks atChannel Zero: No-End HouseandJordskottSeason 2.
For all the horror news we’ve already covered on the site this week, you’re able to click through the links below. Then, check out other genre highlights from the week and finish it all up with a rundown of the week in horror movie trailers. For more, be sure to hit upCollider Nightmares, our round-up of thebest horror movies on Netflix, thebest horror movies on Amazon Prime, and our regularly updatedHorror Movie Release Dates Calendar. Thanks for tuning in, and sound off in the comments with your thoughts, questions, and other horror musings.
‘The Conjuring’ Universe Joins the $1 Billion Box Office Club
Nothing says franchise success like a billion dollars at the box office, which means Warner Bros. and New Line’sThe Conjuringuniverse is officially a big bread-winning success. The box office benchmark comes on the heels of a major opening weekend forAnnabelle: Creation,David F. Sandberg’s spin-off prequel about the origin of the demonic doll introduced inJames Wan’sThe Conjuring. Since Wan’s critical and commercial success dropped in 2013, the world ofThe Conjuringhas rapidly grown to include franchise spinoffs forAnnabelle,The Nun, andThe Crooked Man– the latter two of which were introduced in Wan’s 2016 sequelThe Conjuring 2. And of course,The Conjuring 3is also in the works, though Wan is not expected to return as director.
Wan has a pretty phenomenal track record as a horror box office booster after spawning theSawandInsidiousfranchises, butThe Conjuring-verse is proving to be a next level success. It’s also a great demonstration of how you effectively build a shared universe – which is to say, slowly.The Conjuringnever forced its characters down our throats as future spin-offs potentials. Instead, the ghouls and demons had a role to play in the story at hand and their individual franchises grew out from that solid base. It’s a display of both creative and business acumen, and it will be interesting to see if they can creatively sustain the needs of a shared universe in terms of overlapping mythology and world-building.
In a press release, Warner Bros. President and Chief Content Officer, Toby Emmerich said, “This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of New Line, and without question, the horror genre has always been an integral and important part of the company’s DNA. While the genre has certainly evolved over the decades, watching the critical and commercial success of the ‘Conjuring’ universe has been truly spectacular and I am incredibly proud of all the talented people involved in making this happen.”
Lovecraft-Inspired Open-World Game ‘The Sinking City’ Lands a Publisher
FellowHP Lovecraftfans, it’s time to get very excited. You may have heard ofThe Sinking City, an open-world video game inspired by the Lovecraft mythos (I mean, holy shit yes), and this week brings further good news. The developers at Frogwares (the folks behind a number of Sherlock Holmes investigative games) have teamed with Bigben International, who will publish the game. The Sinking City is currently in production with
The Sinking City is currently in production and aiming for a 2018 release for PC and consoles. Per the press release, the horror adventure will take players to the 1920s, where they’ll find the fictional city of Oakmont, Massachusetts, “a wide open-world overflowing with insanity, is being taken over by an unfathomable supernatural force,” where players will investigate what is driving the city mad.
“The Sinking Cityis our biggest project to date and is a natural evolution of our game design style that we’ve been polishing since our first Sherlock Holmes game. We’ve received both commercial and critical success with our Sherlock Holmes series," said Frogwares CEOWael Amr. “The Sinking Citytakes that heritage to an even grander and ambitious level. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Bigben and joining forces again.”
Benoit Clerc, Bigben’s Director of Video Games, said, “We are proud to be continuing our collaboration with Frogwares on a project as rich and innovative asThe Sinking City. Lovecraft’s imagination has been a source of fantastical inspiration and the studio’s vision forThe Sinking Cityis breathtaking. All of this experienced team’s talent will come together to develop an open world blending investigation, action and adventure in a town where horror merges into madness.”
Here’s the official game description from theFrogwares website:
The Sinking City is a game of investigation and mystery taking place in a fictional open world inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
The player steps into the shoes of a 1920s private investigator who finds himself in the city of Oakmont Massachusetts, New England. A city suffering from unprecedented floods of clearly supernatural origins. A city trembling on the brink of madness.
Can you survive this beleaguered town and untangle the mysteries responsible for its tragic situation or will you be driven beyond madness yourself?
Anya Taylor-Joy Reteaming with ‘The Witch’ Director for ‘Nosferatu’ Remake
Anya Taylor-Joyis reuniting withThe WitchdirectorRobert Eggersfor his remake of the classic vampire tale,Nosferatu.The Witchproved to be the breakout film for both parties, establishing Eggers as a filmmaker to watch after he delivered such a knockout first film and putting Taylor-Joy on the map beforeSplitearned her full-on industry attention. Indeed, Taylor-Joy has kept busy sinceThe Witchwith a series of independent films and her profile is set to skyrocket even further with her starring roles in theX-Menspin-offNew Mutantsand theSplitandUnbreakablesequelGlass.
Eggers has spoken openly about the fact that he didn’t intend to makeNosferatuas his first follow-up toThe Witch. ““It feels ugly and blasphemous and egomaniacal and disgusting for a filmmaker in my place to doNosferatunext,“he said last year. “I was really planning on waiting a while, but that’s how fate shook out.” While it’s easy to see his point consideringNosferatuis one of the most revered films of all time (andWerner Herzog’s 1979 remake is also an exceptional piece), but after the style and command he displayed withThe Witch, it’s also very easy to get excited about what he might do with the material. PerVariety, Taylor-Joy is in negotiations to star in the Studio 8 remake and Eggers had her in mind for the film from the beginning.
Rob Zombie to Host 13 Days of Halloween on HDNet
Praise be, folks, for we are merely weeks away from the all-horror, all the time programming lineup that comes with the Halloween season. You’ll have plenty of options, but HDNet has lined up a new host that may give them a bit of an edge.Rob Zombiewill hose the network’s holiday movie event, Rob Zombie’s 13 Nights of Halloween, from October 19 to 31 for which the rockstar and horror helmer will introduce and showcase a new film each night. The full schedule is still to come but you can check out more details on what to expect in the press release below.
“A musician, filmmaker, and author, Rob Zombie has directed seven feature films, including the recent31, which premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, andThe Lords Of Salem, which premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival. His other directing credits include the cult favoriteHouse Of 1000 Corpsesand its companion,The Devil’s Rejects, along with the 2007 re-imagining of John Carpenter’sHalloween, plus its sequel,Halloween 2. Rob Zombie also developed his own comic book series into an R-rated animated feature,The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto.
Films featured during the 13-night event range from horror classics such asThe Last House On The Left (1972)andThe Blob (1958)to modern favorites includingThe Devil Inside (2012)andCase 39(2009). The full schedule and list of films for ROB ZOMBIE’S 13 NIGHTS OF HALLOWEEN is forthcoming.
Trailer Trash: ‘Inside’ Remake; ‘Chanel Zero: No-End House’
Insidehttps://www.youtube.com/embed/4oqQ6sg_DUw
Pregnant and depressed, a young widow tries to rebuild her life following the fateful car accident where she lost her husband and partially lost her hearing. Now, about to go into labor, she’s living in a remote house in the suburbs when, one Christmas night, she receives an unexpected visit from another woman with a devastating objective: to rip the child she’s carrying from inside her. But a mother’s fury when it comes to protecting her child should never be underestimated.
Pyewackethttps://www.youtube.com/embed/vMGprsXtlSY
A frustrated girl attempts an occult ritual in order to kill her mother, but awakens something sinister in the woods instead, in the latest from director Adam MacDonald (Backcountry).
Channel Zero: No-End Househttps://www.youtube.com/embed/LW7zWck0VAQ
Your memories will eat you alive. Enter the No-End House at your own peril.
Tokyo Ghoulhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/MCBBTdSQsvo
Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way – except their craving for human flesh. Shy Ken Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize. But it turns out that she’s only interested in his body – eating it, that is. When a morally questionable rescue transforms him into the first half-human half-Ghoul hybrid, Ken is drawn into the dark and violent world of Ghouls, which exists alongside our own.
The Atoninghttps://www.youtube.com/embed/P8ZH6iHTNLc
Vera, Ray, and Sam, a seemingly normal family, are haunted by more than mere ghosts. The lingering horror of their past threatens their ability to function as a loving family until they become enlightened by a mystical encounter. From that moment on, they’re thrust into a horror worse than anything they’ve ever experienced. Personal demons manifest and tear the family apart from the inside out as they come to terms with their past.
