River, a survival slasher from first-time feature director Joshua Giuliano, brings together two modern-day scream queens.
The film is in post-production at Shudder Original Productions and is scheduled for theatrical release through Independent Film Company, starring Jane Levy (The Evil Dead), Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day), Dane Diriegro (The Prey), and Max Mattern (John Wayne Gacy).
International rights will be introduced to buyers at the next AFM by Upgrade.
According to a press release, the premise of “River” is that “After the death of their father, three estranged brothers reunite in their hometown and set out to scatter his ashes at their father’s favorite spot on a secluded river. But their boat breaks down and the journey awakens evil. Stranded for miles with no cell phone service, the brothers soon find themselves being chased by a faceless killer who emerges from the forest.To survive the night, the brothers must protect themselves. Let’s put aside long-held grudges and join forces to fight this ruthless, almost mythical horror. ”
Giuliano “came from the cornfields of Indiana to become an L.A.-based horror filmmaker. Growing up religious and scared of everything, making horror films never seemed like a reasonable career choice for him, but the constraints of his childhood and the need to explore beyond his limits led Giuliano to become an L.A.-based horror filmmaker. His short films have won numerous awards at various film festivals around the world, including Fantasia Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, and Fright Fest. ”
Giuliano said in a statement: “‘River’ was a labor of love and six years in the making, culminating in one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.” “Working with Shudder has been a thrilling collaboration, and learning that River will be released in theaters is a dream come true. We look forward to sharing our terrifying work with audiences.”
River is produced by Spooky Pictures’ Steven Schneider (Insidious), Eat the Cat’s Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund (Chucky), and executive produced by Allegheny Image Factory’s Jeffrey Tinnell and Robert Tinnell (The Hunted) and Upgrade’s Matt Brodley and Jonathan Keir.
“Josh is an impressive new voice in horror,” said Nicholas Lazo, Shudder’s vice president of development and production, in a statement. “His beautiful yet terrifying script captivated us from the first page, and we are honored to team up with such an incredibly talented group of producers, cast and crew to bring his feature debut to life.”
Levy and Rothe are repped by United Talent, Mattern is repped by Buchwald, and Diriegro and Giuliano are repped by CAA.
