Exclusives
‘Vacancy’ Writer Pens ‘Martyrs’, Latest John Hillcoat Thriller!
A few weeks back it was announced that Paramount had set up an untitled horror project penned by Mark L. Smith (Vacancy, The Hole 3D) with Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form along with Room 101’s Steven Schneider. The project was kept under wraps, so we caught up with Smith to see if we could get any nuggets of info out of him. During the interview, he revealed some HUGE news on some forthcoming projects, one of which is the eventual redo of Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs. Watch for the interview soon.
With the full interview forthcoming, below are a few morsels of info we received from writer Mark L. Smith.
When asked about future projects he told us about “The Revenant, which is a period action/revenge piece that Anonymous Content is producing,” he tells BD exclusively adding some huge news. “John Hillcoat (The Road) is attached to direct, and Christian Bale is in talks to star.”
He also reveals that he wrote the current draft of “Martyrs… a remake of the French horror film that I wrote for Wyck Godfrey (Temple/Hill) who’s producing the Twilight films among others.”
He also dropped the bomb on something super secret he’s developing for FX guru-turned-director Patrick Tatopoulos.
“There’s also an fantastic project I’m working on with Patrick Tatopoulos (Underworld 3, I, Frankenstein, The Colony). He’d kill me if I told anyone what it was about… it was Patrick’s idea/vision, and I was just lucky enough that he asked me to do it with him. He’s amazing.”
Lastly there’s a film called Trouble, “a thriller that Bold Films (The Hole) is making. Sidney Lumet and I worked on the script together, which was an amazing experience.“
What happened to Flight 298? Our exclusive clip from supernatural thriller Black Box suggests a hostile takeover by an inhuman threat.
Black Box arrives on VOD today, July 7, 2026, via distributor Aura Entertainment.
In the horror movie, “A routine domestic flight turns into the flight from hell through a series of inexplicable phenomena and raw terror. Surreal encounters blur the boundaries between reality and nightmare. Passengers fight against all the odds in an attempt to survive while combating bizarre technological malfunctions, accelerating supernatural events, and alien influences.”
The film is based on the short film The Vessel, and an original screenplay from horror writer Stephen Susco (The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Hell Fest).
Steven Quale (Into the Storm, Final Destination 5) directs.
Tom Brittney, Holly Leena White, Betsy Blue English, Dane Whyte O’Hara, Kaja Chan, Asa Ali, Boadicea Ricketts, Ceallach Spellman, Georgina Leonidas, Molly Belle Wright, Hanneke Talbot, Danny Mack, and Weronika Rosati star in Black Box.
Hammerstone Studios’ Alex Lebovici (Barbarian, Boy Kills World) and Jon Oakes (Drive, The Guilty) will produce alongside Capstone’s Christian Mercuri and David Haring (Bill & Ted Face the Music), Warren Zide (The Final Destination, American Pie), and Susco. Ruzanna Kegeyan and Roman Viaris of Capstone, and Clark Baker (Vessel) will executive produce.
Watch the clip below that sees a creepy crawling invasion aboard Flight 298, signalling supernatural turbulence ahead.