Ever since the pandemic began, the theater industry has yet to fully normalize. While films likeTop Gun: Maverickprove that the blockbuster isn’t dead, there are still films that, thanks to the implementation of streaming in the release process, are stuck in the streaming pipeline. One such film that seemingly lost its shot at the big screen wasRob Savage’sThe Boogeyman. Penned byScott Beck,Bryan Woods, andMark Heymanand hailing from 20th Century Studios, theStephen Kingadaptation seemed destined for Hulu until overwhelmingly positive test screenings last Decemberswayed executives to give it a theatrical run. Speaking to Collider’s ownSteve Weintraubfor their movie65, Beck and Woods revealed what they’re excited for the audience to see and how lucky they were to land such an opportunity.
Based on King’s haunting short story from a 1973 issue ofCavalier,The Boogeymanis a bit different from its source material. Rather than following a father who slowly loses his children to the menacing Boogeyman, the film is apparently set from the perspective of the children. After the death of their mother, a teenage girl and her younger sister struggle to get their grieving father to notice the sinister presence within the house. The entity feeds on their anguish, and they’re left to figure out a way to escape it before they succumb to its ever-increasing attacks.Madison Hu, Vivien Lyra Blair, Chris Messina, David Dastmalchian, Marin Ireland, andSophie Thatcherfill out the starry cast.
When asked what they can’t wait for audiences to see, Woods waxed poetic about the team’s love for King’s story and praised Savage’s direction. He also gave thanks to 20th Century for not just helping them with the theatrical release but reinvesting in the theater business in the process, saying:
“It’s a movie we’re really proud of. It’s our favorite Stephen King piece of writing, which is absurd because he’s done so much miraculous writing, but we just always loved this short story,The Boogeyman, it always creeped us out. It’s so simple and clean and terrifying, and to be able to play in that sandbox was quite the dream. (Director) Rob Savage did a great job and I think it’s gonna be fun for audiences to see. I hope it’s another reason for people to come out to the theaters, and we were really, really moved by 20th’s decision to take it, as it was ostensibly going to be a Hulu release, and they kind of are reinvesting in the ecosystem of theaters which is so important to us.”
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The BoogeymanWas Immensely Lucky to Jump from Streaming to Theaters
A film moving from streaming to theatrical certainly isn’t impossible. One recent example isLee Cronin’sEvil Dead Risewhich, similar toThe Boogeyman,won a ticket off of HBO Maxafter its trailer killed with CineEurope viewers. It’s not as simple as making a good film though.Dan Trachtenberg’sPreywas universally hailed as a brilliant new entry to the massivePredatorfranchise, yet never saw theaters outside special screenings. It, too, was a 20th Century Studios production. Even a film likeGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which was beloved and prompted Netflix to give it the widest theatrical release for one of their originals yet, was unable to secure a full stay in theaters from its respective streamer despite the success.
What makesThe Boogeymandifferent? Beck says it came down to some good luck on their end. Moreover, he’s hopeful that the industry is moving back toward a sort of normalcy for these types of films:
“Our understanding was withPrey, it was almost a contractual impossibility for that movie to come out in theaters because it would get tied up in other streaming services if it played in theaters. And so,Boogeymanwas fortunate that it wasn’t stuck in the 2022 pipeline or else it would have been strictly streaming. It’s coming out in 2023, this summer, which allowed it to finagle out of those contractual obligations. But again, we wrote the film initially for 20th Century Fox, when Fox was still around, and it was a studio film. And so for it to go to streaming, but now come back to theatrical is incredibly inspiring to us. We feel like there’s been a turn now, after the last three years of a really weird theatrical landscape, that hopefully will find a new normal where, yes, streaming is not going anywhere, but there will be a certain type of movie, or a certain expectation of the theatrical movie-going process, that inspires us because that’s what we fell in love with as kids.”
TheA Quiet Placewriters have been plenty busy lately. BeforeThe Boogeymanreleases, their dinosaur actioner65withAdam Driveris due to release on March 10. They also have the prequelA Quiet Place: Day Oneon the docket for 2024. The two have a track record of scaring audiences, and they’re hoping their King adaptation with Savage at the helm doesn’t make 20th Century regret their decision.
The Boogeymanis due out on June 2 in theaters. Stay tuned here at Collider for the full interview with Beck and Woods and check out the trailer below.
