Paramount Pictures has doubled down on their deal with veteran film producer Walter Hamada’s 18Hz Productions, as the studio announced a renewal of their exclusive, multi-year agreement on Thursday.
Through this deal, Hamada — who famously served as an executive producer for “The Conjuring” franchise, as well as Andy Muschietti’s 2017 adaptation of “It” — will continue to focus on the horror genre for Paramount Pictures, especially in regards to delivering multiple low-to-mid-budget films.
Hamada and 18Hz Productions have a number of projects in the pipeline, including Johannes Roberts’ horror film “Primate,” which released its first trailer on Thursday and is set to hit theaters on Jan. 9, 2026.
Their other projects through this deal include an untitled horror film from director André Øvredal — which stars Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell and Melissa Leo — Caye Casas’ “Familiar” and Rodrigue Huart’s Spanish horror movie “Suffer Little Children.”
Hamada, who previously served as President for DC-Based Film Production at Warner Bros. Pictures and as executive producer for 2022’s “The Batman,” first landed his deal with Paramount Pictures in November 2022 (though, the deal didn’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2023).
At the time, Hamada noted, “I am thrilled to collaborate with Paramount Pictures with the singular goal of creating exceptional movies in the horror genre. Over the course of my career, nothing has been more gratifying than discovering emerging, first-time filmmakers and writers and unleashing their brilliance in a studio setting. Thank you to Brian and the entire team at Paramount Pictures for this tremendous opportunity, I can’t wait to get started.”
