EFM 2026: 15 buzz titles from North America

Screen presents a selection of the buzziest projects from North America available to international buyers at this year’s European Film Market (EFM, February 12-18).

Blasphemous

Dir. Luke Piotrowski
Karen Gillan, Josh Hutcherson and Clive Owen will star in this exorcism thriller from Piotrowski. He makes his feature directing debut from his 2023 Black List screenplay about a rookie exorcist and his devout mentor who are tasked with transporting a possessed young woman (Gillan) to a secure location for an exorcism. Badlands, Thunder Road, Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions and Gillan and Jess Biddle of Red Riot Pictures are producing, and have scheduled an August start in New York.
Contact: North.Five.Six; CAA Media Finance 

A Body In The Woods

Dir. Stephen Cognetti
Emma Roberts (Scream 4, American Horror Story) will star as a woman living in a haunted wood at the turn of the century who keeps vigil over a dead miner’s body in her remote cabin. Things take a more sinister turn when she suspects the body may not be at rest and a silent woman appears at the edge of the forest. C2 Motion Picture Group is financing the first project on the Manifest Pictures sales slate, and production is scheduled to begin in September.
Contact: Jesse Krugel, Manifest Pictures 

Bodyman

Dir. Gary Fleder
Nick Jonas will star in this action thriller about a violent struggle for power and survival that ensues during a family Christmas, when a billionaire sidesteps the children to assign inheritance of his private military company over to his longtime bodyguard. Gary Fleder (Homefront, TV series Reacher) will direct from a screenplay by Byron Balasco. Producers on the feature are A Higher Standard, Nickel City Pictures and Powered By Jonas, in association with Picturestart, and production is scheduled to begin in June.
Contact: Rebecca Raichek, A Higher Standard 

Clarissa

Dirs. Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri
Sophie Okonedo and David Oyelowo star in this Nigeria-set retelling of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway. Okonedo plays the eponymous socialite who hosts a party and encounters friends from her youth. The Esiri twins shot in 35mm in Lagos and Delta State in Nigeria. Neon will release theatrically in the US.
Contact: Neon International 

Cupid

Dir. Tate Taylor
Upgrade kicks off talks on Cupid, a thriller that is scheduled to begin shooting in the autumn and will see Catherine Zeta-Jones star for The Help director Taylor. The story follows a couple in a rocky relationship who try to fix things at the home of an unorthodox marriage counsellor. But over a weekend, the host’s methods turn cruel and dangerous. Taylor produces with John Norris of Wyolah Films and Ryan Donnell Smith of Thomasville Pictures.
Contact: Upgrade

A Head Full Of Ghosts

Dirs. Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Lionsgate arrives with this psycho­logical horror that sees David Harbour, Rebecca Hall and Esmé Creed-Miles in final negotiations to star for Goodnight Mommy co-directors Franz and Fiala. The story centres on a family torn apart when their teenage daughter’s descent into madness becomes the subject of a reality show, and the efforts 15 years later of her sister to uncover what happened. Team Downey, The Allegiance Theater and Fifth Season produce the adaptation of Paul Tremblay’s novel, and production is scheduled for March. Lionsgate will distribute in the US.
Contact: Lionsgate

Hello & Paris

Dir. Elizabeth Chomko
Javier Bardem and Oscar-nominated Song Sung Blue star Kate Hudson will star in this romantic comedy, which 193 is introducing to buyers. Chomko will direct and write the screenplay loosely inspired by Deborah McKin­lay’s novel That Part Was True. Finola Dwyer optioned the book and produces alongside Fifth Season. The film charts a feisty transatlantic relationship between a landscape architect and a crisis-ridden bestselling novelist, who meet initially in Paris.
Contact: Charlotte Humbert, 193 

Ice Cream Man

Dir. Eli Roth
WME Independent shows first footage on Roth’s upcoming horror film starring Ari Millen (Orphan Black) in the title role as a purveyor of children’s treats that drive an idyllic town into madness. The cast includes Benjamin Byron Davis, Karen Cliche and Dylan Hawco. The Horror Section handles US rights, and Studiocanal’s Sixth Dimension acquired the film for the UK, Germany, France, Benelux, Poland, Australia and New Zealand. The producers are gearing up for a wide 2026 US release.
Contact: WME Independent

Leviticus

Dir. Adrian Chiarella
Neon International kicks off talks on Leviticus, Chiarella’s Australian queer horror that was one of the standouts in Sundance last month, where Neon acquired worldwide rights. Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen and Mia Wasikowska star in the chiller about two teenage boys who must escape a violent entity that takes the form of the person they desire most — each other. Neon will distribute in the US later this year. This is the third consecutive year Neon has picked up worldwide rights on a Sundance genre title and begun sales in Berlin, after Steven Soderbergh’s Presence in 2024 and body horror Together in 2025.
Contact: Neon International

Play Dead

Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
WME Independent starts worldwide talks on Collet-Serra’s genre title starring Noah Jupe from Hamnet and Matthias Schweighöfer from Army Of The Dead. Natalie Conway and Peter Stanley-Ward co-wrote the Second World War thriller about an Allied soldier who, following an ambush, pretends to be dead to survive the night surrounded by Nazis. Collet-Serra, who directed the Cliffhanger reboot that Row K will open this summer, is in post on the feature produced by Nocturnal Entertainment, Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures, BoulderLight Pictures and Bad Grey. Nocturnal is fully financing the project.
Contact: WME Independent

The Smack

Dir. David M Rosenthal
Concourse Media represents worldwide rights to The Smack, a heist thriller starring Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Marisa Tomei and Kathy Bates that is earmarked for a May production start in New Jersey. Rosenthal (The Perfect Guy) directs the story of a conman (Affleck) who teams up with a casino waitress to execute a heist of already stolen US military cash. What they do not know is that other criminals have targeted the same stash. Unified Pictures, Play Hooky Productions and Sugar Rush Pictures are producing.
Contact: Matt Shreder, Concourse Media 

Sweat

Dir. J Blakeson
Ana de Armas will star in the psychological thriller Sweat, which AGC International is bringing to market. Blakeson (I Care A Lot, The Disappearance Of Alice Creed) directs the story of a fitness influencer who, after a bad experience with her idol, is forced into a dangerous arrangement with an obsessive fan that tests her desire for fame. AGC Studios will finance and co-produce Sweat alongside Rosto Inc and Crimple Beck, based on Magnus von Horn’s Polish 2020 Cannes Label selection of the same name. Production is scheduled to begin on March 30 in Los Angeles and the UK. WME Independent, CAA Media Finance and AGC jointly represent US rights.
Contact: AGC International 

This Is Pleasure

Dirs. Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Jessica Chastain and Chris Pine star in the story of a woman who must decide what to do when her publisher friend is accused of misconduct. Springer Berman and Pulcini, who were Oscar-nominated in 2004’s adapted screenplay category for American Splendor, direct from Nina Raine’s screenplay, based on the #MeToo novella by Mary Gaitskill. This Is Pleasure is produced by Fremantle, Killer Films, Chastain’s Freckle Films and Pine’s Barry Linen Motion Pictures. CAA Media Finance represents US sales.
Contact: The Veterans

Unforgettable

Dir. Colman Domingo
Domingo will write, direct and star in Nat King Cole biopic Unforgettable, charting the musician’s career and battles against racial inequality as he blazed a trail for Black artists. The Oscar­nominated Rustin and Sing Sing actor will also produce alongside Cassian Elwes and Macro founder Charles D King, among others. A production start is being lined up for later this year, which will make Unforgettable Domingo’s feature directorial debut before he helms the previously announced Scandalous!.
Contact: Lionsgate

Wildwood

Dir. Travis Knight
Laika boss Knight directs the animated epic fantasy about a headstrong teenager and her unlikely companion who set out to rescue her baby brother from an enchanted forest after he is abducted by crows. Laika is producing the feature, based on Colin Meloy’s 2011 novel illustrated by Carson Ellis, and is partnering with Fathom Entertainment on the October 23 US theatrical release. A stellar voice cast features Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina and Richard E Grant.
Contact: FilmNation

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