Sellers at the American Film Market in Los Angeles are pushing a wave of affordable horror projects, hoping to land the next Obsession. Packages starring Jeremy Renner, Idris Elba, Liam Neeson, Gillian Anderson and Renée Zellweger add star power to the lineup.
Hollywood is looking for the next Obsession-sized hits
Projects on sale at AFM 2026:
- Seeker: Cooper Tomlinson, Jessica Rothe, Mika Abdalla
- Violet: Lili Reinhart, Danny Ramirez, Suki Waterhouse
- 12 Bullets: Jeremy Renner
- A Speck in the Sea: Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin
- In Laws: Idris Elba (also directs)
- Believe 13: Liam Neeson
- The Portrait: Gillian Anderson, Rebecca Hall
- Untitled dramedy: Renée Zellweger, Dominic Sessa, Peter Dinklage
- The Brand: Nicolas Cage, Alexander Ludwig
- The Long Island Bank Robber: Taylor Kitsch, Alexandra Daddario, Christopher Walken
- Home Shopper: Kate Mara
- Katana: Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Elden Ring: Kit Connor
- Moonsong: A Life In Seven Verses: Julianne Moore
- Untitled Armando Iannucci thriller: James McAvoy, Alicia Vikander, Taron Egerton
- Martha & Muhammad: Amanda Seyfried
- Love Story Insomniac City: Jonathan Bailey, Bill Nighy
- Stuntnuts: Produced by Matthew Vaughn and Cristiano Ronaldo, with A-list cameos
Buyers say the market has no shortage of horror pitches, and the sameness is wearing on them. “The projects are pouring in like an avalanche,” one buyer told Deadline. They added: “But it’s saturated in genre. If I hear one more time that the movie is in the vein of Obsession, I’ll scream.”
After all, Obsession, Backrooms and Buddy all helped lift this year’s theatrical box office. Two of the three premiered at festivals, and A24 set up Backrooms and sold it at the market. Each eventually brought in a studio in some form.
An international distribution veteran said that support is hard to replace. “The horror game is so unpredictable,” the executive said. “And it’s so dependent on whether there’s a studio release in some form. If Obsession had been in the hands of indies alone I doubt it gets close to where it ended. We need that driving force from the U.S. on a project. That’s where the buzz starts.”
Series and studio films have locked up most bankable actors, so the same names appear repeatedly. One Oscar-nominated actor stars in five projects on sale, and Nicolas Cage appears in at least three. Patrick Wachsberger’s 193 is selling two Jeremy Renner action films. A well-conceived horror film relies less on big names, which explains the genre rush.
