A micro-budget horror film called Play House has landed a major distribution deal — and not just any deal. Focus Features and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster have acquired worldwide rights, excluding Latin America and India, in a seven-figure transaction. The film, directed by Nicolas Curcio and co-written with his wife Kirby Gladstein, was shot for under $100,000, less than a fifth of the budget behind last year’s breakout indie horror Obsession.
That’s a staggering leap for a project that began as a pitch winner at Fantastic Pitches, an indie initiative backed by Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest and Chroma. It premiered last month at the same festival, where it won acclaim before landing its big break. Now, it’s headed to theaters in 2027, with Universal Pictures International handling international rollout.
The cast includes Will Harrison, Jessica Sula, Jordan Gonzalez, and James Urbaniak. The story follows Elliott, a man renovating a crumbling house to win back his ex, only to uncover VHS tapes of a forgotten children’s show that begin to bleed into reality. Threatening his fragile second chance. The film’s eerie premise echoes Buddy, Candle Cove, and I Saw the TV Glow, but its real hook lies in how it got made: no studio gatekeepers, just a writer with a TikTok following (nearly 200K), a podcast, and reps at 3 Arts, UTA, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
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