Hot off a successful world premiere at TIFF for his feature debut, River filmmaker Josh Giuliano has been set to direct Occupant.
Blumhouse Atomic Monster, Focus Features, Divide/Conquer and Spooky Pictures have signed on for Josh Giuliano’s next film. Focus Features has worldwide rights, with Universal Pictures International set to handle international distribution.
The logline is under wraps at this time, so no guessing on plot, but Occupant will be written and directed by Giuliano.
Occupant is the latest in Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s bid to identify emerging genre directors, following in the footsteps of Curry Barker’s Obsession. Barker came to the company through Greg Gilreath and Adam Hendricks of Divide/Conquer after Obsession premiered at TIFF last year.
This year at TIFF, Giuliano came through Sam Zimmerman, who oversees the slate and already knew his work, as River is an upcoming Shudder and IFC release, and connected him with Gilreath and Hendricks.
While we know nothing about Occupant yet, his debut at least signals solid horror ahead.
I wrote in my TIFF review of River that it “doesn’t break convention but instead uses the slasher tropes in its favor to ramp up the tension at a brisk and steady clip. It’s lean and efficient, anchored by its tremendous cast and a unique setting that’s utilized to its fullest when generating scares.”
Producers are Jason Blum, Greg Gilreath, Adam Hendricks, and Steven Schneider. Executive producers include Daniel Bekerman, Derek Bishé, Neil Mathieson, Allie Steffler, Sam Zimmerman, and Jeremy Kulyk.
