“River,” a slasher that drew attention from several studios at the Toronto International Film Festival, will hit U.S. cinemas on January 15, 2027, after Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Atomic Monster snapped it up for more than $10 million.
The film is the feature directorial debut of writer-director Joshua Giuliano. Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe, and Max Mattern star as estranged siblings who find themselves pursued by a masked killer while they try to scatter their deceased father’s ashes on a remote river.
“The sun is down. The boat is dead. There’s no cell service. And someone is standing, staring, from the shore,” says the tagline of the trailer.
Levy plays Lucy, Rothe plays her older sister, Carla, and Mattern plays their younger brother, Drew. After meeting in their rural hometown following their father’s death, the siblings take a boat ride to his favorite spot on a secluded river to spread his ashes.
When the boat breaks down near a dilapidated bridge, the siblings are left stranded miles away from civilization with no signal. They are then hunted by a faceless killer who watches from the shore, and they have to set aside past differences to make it to morning.
The killer is played by Dane DiLiegro, who starred as the Predator in 2022’s “Prey” and “Only Murders in the Building.” Levy made a name for herself in the 2013 “Evil Dead” remake and “Don’t Breathe.” Rothe is best known for starring in the “Happy Death Day” films and “Pulse.” Meanwhile, Mattern has TV and movie credits in the “Cape Fear” series and “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy.”
Giuliano is a rural Indiana native and graduate of the directing program at the American Film Institute. His short films have won awards at festivals like Fantasia, Fantastic Fest, and FrightFest, and River came out of his 2018 short “In Sound, We Live Forever.” According to Variety, River said it took him six years and was “a labor of love that has culminated in the most rewarding experience of my life.”
“River” premiered at Midnight Madness in Toronto on September 10. Programmer Peter Kuplowsky praised it before the screening, calling it “one of the most suspenseful slashers I’ve seen in years.” The film was also scheduled for its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.
The Midnight screening in Toronto drew a raving, cheering audience, per TheWrap. Reviews were positive after that. Bloody Disgusting’s Meagan Navarro called the film “lean and efficient,” while Dread Central’s Matt Konopka likened its ferocity to “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” By October, the film was enjoying a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Independent Film Company, along with its horror streaming platform Shudder, held the U.S. rights ahead of the festival, with several buyers showing interest after the premiere. Deadline stated that Sony emerged as one of the final competitors at $8 million, while Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster acquired U.S. and selective international rights for more than $10 million.
Sam Zimmerman, who currently oversees the indie slate at Blumhouse Atomic Monster, worked on River during his time at Shudder. Right before the acquisition, Blumhouse Atomic Monster, Divide/Conquer, and Spooky Pictures teamed up on Giuliano’s next project, “Occupant,” which will be released by Focus Features. The plot details have not been revealed yet.
Buzz around the film has drawn comparisons to Obsession, the other breakout film at Midnight Madness last year. Focus Features bought Obsession for about $15 million, and it went on to make over $500 million worldwide. The marketing campaign for River places it as a project from the producers of Obsession and Backrooms, the Kane Parsons film that Blumhouse Atomic Monster helped develop.
Steven Schneider, known for producing the Insidious franchise and Split, produced River through his company Spooky Pictures. Nick Antosca, the creator of the Cape Fear series, and Alex Hedlund, executive producer of the same series, produced via Eat the Cat, with credits including Verity.
Executive producers also include Robert and Jeffrey Tinnell of Allegheny Image Factory, Matt Brodlie and Jonathan Kier of the sales firm Upgrade, and Ben Ross and Jason Blum. Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Atomic Monster, and Independent Film Company present the film as a Shudder Original Production, in association with Upgrade.
The project has been in development for years now. According to JoBlo in 2019, Tango Entertainment picked up Giuliano’s spec screenplay while he was working on his short films and even as a Postmates driver. River was announced as a Shudder Original at American Film Market in 2 2025, with Independent Film Company planning a theatrical release before the sale.
Universal Pictures is set to release River in theaters on January 15, 2027, during Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The date was previously set aside for a Blumhouse project before this acquisition.
“River” will be competing against “Children of Blood and Bone,” Amazon MGM’s “The Beekeeper 2,” and “Fing!,” a family comedy from Taika Waititi.
Blumhouse has traditionally used January for releasing horror films. “M3GAN” broke out in 2023, but the latest Blumhouse January release, 2025’s “Wolf Man,” grossed $34 million worldwide, TheWrap reported.
The film is 92 minutes long. Giuliano told TheWrap after the premiere that he has already started thinking about the sequel.
