The Blackening: Lionsgate plans a wide theatrical release for Tim Story horror comedy

Lionsgate has come out the winner in a bidding war over the distribution rights to director Tim Story’s horror comedy The Blackening, which made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last month. Deadline reported that three offers, which were “just short of $20 million”, were made by potential distributors soon after the premiere screening. Apparently Lionsgate had the most appealing offer on the table. Now they’re planning to give the film a wide theatrical release.

Story directed The Blackening from a screenplay by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins. Inspired by a Perkins-scripted 3Peat comedy sketch that aired on Comedy Central in 2018, the film is about

a group of Black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who forces them to play a game with life-or-death consequences. The idea asks a reasonable question: since it seems that Black characters are usually the earliest victims in horror films, what happens when all the characters are Black?

Perkins (The Upshaws) stars in the film alongside Antoinette Robertson (Dear White People), Sinqua Walls (Shark Night), Grace Byers (Empire), X Mayo (The Farewell), Melvin Gregg (The Way Back), Jermaine Fowler (The Drop), Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Jay Pharoah (Unsane), and James Preston Rogers (Pixels).

Lionsgate’s Jason Constantine had this to say about the distribution deal: “The Blackening is a wildly entertaining horror movie that delivers jump-out-of-your-seat scares while also hilariously subverting the genre. Tim Story, Tracy Oliver, and Dewayne Perkins have delivered a movie that works on multiple levels — as huge fans of the genre, they’re able to be true to the conventions while turning them on their heads.“

Story and Oliver produced The Blackening with Marcei A. Brown, Jason Clark, E. Brian Dobbins, and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett. Perkins co-produced, and Vicky Story is associate producer.

Story’s previous directing credits include Barbershop, Taxi, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Hurricane Season, Think Like a Man, Ride Along, Think Like a Man Too, Ride Along 2, Shaft, and Tom & Jerry.

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