EXCLUSIVE: Dark Star Pictures has acquired North American rights from Jackrabbit Media at TIFF: The Market to Katherine Dudas’s horror comedy Theater Is Dead starring Decker Sadowski from Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Shane West from Nikita.
The feature premiered at 2025 Fantastic Fest and Jackrabbit commenced sales several months later at the AFM on the darkly comedic take on artistic ambition, mentorship, and public performance.
Theater Is Dead follows aspiring actress Willow (Sadowski), who lands the role of a lifetime in a Greek tragedy adaptation helmed by reclusive director Matthew Malvaggio (West) after he arrives on the island where she lives. However Willow’s dream soon becomes a nightmare. The cast includes Olivia Blue and Madison Lawlor.
Dark Star plans an early 2027 theatrical release. Dudas, Sadowski, Blue, and Lawlor co-wrote the screenplay and produced with Jacob Nichols, West, and Juan Mas in association with Zach Mann of Halfway Crooks Entertainment.
“We immediately connected with Katherine’s distinctive approach to the material and the way the film uses genre to explore something very real about ambition and the vulnerability that can come with pursuing a creative career,” said Michael Repsch of Dark Star Pictures. Dudas said of Repsch: “He truly understands why this film is so addicting to not just the theatre kids and horror fans, but to anyone who has toyed with the idea of putting a price tag on their soul.”
Repsch negotiated the deal on behalf of Dark Star Pictures with Mark Padilla, president of worldwide sales at Jackrabbit Media.
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