Movies
Shout! Studios Acquires Remake of David Cronenberg’s ‘Rabid’
Shout! Studios, the multi-platform filmed entertainment distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory, has acquired U.S. rights to writers/directors Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska’s (American Mary) new feature remake of David Cronenberg’s early horror classic Rabid, Bloody Disgusting learned ahead of EFM. This multi-year agreement provides Shout! Studios with digital, on-demand, broadcast, home entertainment, and select SVOD rights to the Rabid feature remake for cross-platform releases in the U.S. Back 40 Pictures will handle the theatrical distribution duties.
The remake will portray Rose, a young woman who, after an accident leaves her scarred beyond recognition, undergoes a radical untested stem cell treatment. While turning Rose into the belle of the ball, the experimental transformation comes at a price.
Jen and Sylvia Soska will direct this new feature from a screenplay they adapted with John Serge from the original Cronenberg classic. Michael Walker, Paul Lalonde, and John Vidette are serving as producers.
Shout! Studios will be working closely with filmmakers and producers in the production process. The Rabid feature remake is currently in the pre-production phase. Principal photography is expected to begin in April.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be re-imaging David’s 1977 body horror classic, Rabid, with such incredible support behind us,” said Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska. “We are not fans of soulless remakes as seems to be the trend these days as they disrespect the fans and the original body of work. Our Rabid is a continuation of the thoughts and conversation David started with his original piece and modernized through a female perspective. This film will truly honor not only the original but Cronenberg’s entire body of work.”
The buried origins of the cinema zombie will be explored in upcoming documentary Black Zombie, and Deadline reports that Kino Lorber has picked up the doc for U.S. release.
Kino Lorber will release Black Zombie in theaters later this year.
From writer and director Maya Annik Bedward, Black Zombie digs beneath the blood-soaked spectacle of modern horror to uncover the zombie’s buried and unsettling origins.
Long before it became associated with flesh-eating ghouls, the zombie was a living metaphor for slavery: not a monster, but the ultimate victim of colonial power.
Deadline further details, “Director Maya Annik Bedward traces the evolution of the zombie from colonial Haiti to contemporary Hollywood, reconsidering iconic films like White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, and The Serpent and the Rainbow alongside archival footage, vérité scenes, and interviews with cultural historians, artists, and genre legends including Yves-Grégory Francois, Mambo Labelle Déesse, Slash, Tom Savini, and Zandashé Brown. Part cultural reckoning, part horror remix, Black Zombie exposes how a figure born from enslavement, spiritual belief, and resistance was transformed into one of pop culture’s most profitable monsters.”
“I’m thrilled to partner with Kino Lorber on the release of Black Zombie,” said Maya Annik Bedward. “The film explores the power of images to shape our understanding of history, culture, and race, making it especially meaningful to work with a distributor so deeply engaged with cinema’s past and present. Their passion for films that challenge, illuminate, and expand our understanding of the world makes them an ideal partner for bringing this story to audiences across the U.S.”
Kino Lorber’s Karoliina Dwyer adds, “The zombie is one of the most iconic images in cinema, and you’ll never look at them the same after watching Black Zombie. Maya Annik Bedward has crafted a fascinating, deeply researched documentary that unearths the long-buried Haitian origins of the genre, interrogating colonial, political, and Hollywood history to powerful and illuminating effect. We’re so proud to bring this documentary to U.S. audiences this fall.”
Executive producers for the documentary include music legend Slash.
‘I Walked With a Zombie’ (1943)
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