Universal has set the release date of Blumhouse/Atomic Monster’s TIFF acquisition “River” for Jan. 15, 2027.
Premiering in Toronto in the festival’s midnight section, the movie, written and directed by Joshua Giuliano, stars Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe and Max Mittern as a trio of siblings who travel to a river by boat to spread the ashes of their late father.
But when their boat engine fails and cell phone service is lost, the siblings find themselves in a nightmare as they are stuck in the river while two ominous figures watch them from land. Acquired by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster and produced by IFC and Shudder, “River” has received rave reviews out of TIFF, holding a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score.
“River” is produced by Spooky Pictures’ Steven Schneider and Eat the Cat’s Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund. The film is executive produced by Allegheny Image Factory’s Jeffrey Tinnell and Robert Tinnell, Upgrade’s Matt Brodlie and Jonathan Kier, Ben Ross and Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s Jason Blum.
Blumhouse has traditionally set a horror release for January, finding success with films like the 2023 breakout hit “M3GAN.” However, the studio’s most recent January release — 2025’s “Wolf Man” — grossed just $34 million worldwide.
Still, Blumhouse, alongside Focus Features, struck gold at TIFF last year by acquiring “Obsession,” which made $519 million this past summer and became the highest-grossing original Hollywood release of this decade. Now the studio is hoping that “River” can also become a festival success.
“River” will share its release date with Angel’s Taika Waititi family comedy “Fing!”, Paramount’s African fantasy “Children of Blood and Bone” and Amazon MGM’s Jason Statham action sequel “The Beekeeper 2.”
