“Everybody has a different idea of what’s scary.”
This reviewer was given the privilege to attend a presentation by the stars of the upcoming Universal Pictures sequel, Violent Night II along with the debut of the 2027 slate of films produced by Blumhouse and Atomic Monster in a shared panel and multimedia experience.
First, reprising his role as Santa Claus, David Harbour joined the panel along with Mrs. Claus, played by Kristen Bell.
“Go ahead, make my sleigh.”
The Tommy Wirkola directed Violent Night was a surprise hit in 2022 and this reviewer was allowed to see a screening of the film during 2022’s NYC Comic Con. Brutal, crass, comical, considerably gory and yet unexpectedly sentimental, the Christmas-themed Violent Night was quite an unexpected delight. This reviewer was expecting/hoping to be shown the entirety of the sequel, Violent Night II at 2026’s Comic Con panel as they were both allocated the same block of time. Alas, the audience was only shown a few ultra-violent and ultra-funny clips.
Kristen Bell talked about swapping Frozen characters for those in Violent Night to see how they would fare. She also divulged how much she enjoyed doing her stunts and how awed she was by the quality and versatility of her stunt team and choreographers. No action sequence on Veronica Mars prepared her for any of the sword-swinging and swash-bucking she enacts in Violent Night II.
Violent Night II has a release date of December 4th. 2026.
“In Wan we trust.”
In addition to Jason Blum himself, guests for the Blumhouse and Atomic Monster part of the address included director Mike Flanagan and the enormously talented Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange) spreading the gospel about Exorcist: Martyrs, starring Scarlett Johannson and Diane Lane. LaKeith Stanfield (Roofman) talked about teaming again with Blumhouse in Ron Savage’s Molepeople. “Horror Queen” Heidi Wong, commentator and short specialist, was there to take questions about her project; She’s made a deal to work with Blumhouse creating new multimedia horror shorts. Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) discussed her upcoming film, River.
Atomic Monster founder James Wan dropped hints about his reboot of Robocop, soon to be an Amazon Prime video series.
The Blumhouse/ Atomic Monster release schedule is as follows.
River 01/07/2027
Revenge of La Lorena 02/26/2027
The Exorcist: Martyrs 03/12/2027
Anything But Ghosts 05/07/2027
Paranormal Activity 05/21/2027
(Untitled) 08/27/2027
Blair Witch 09/24/2027
Sleepover 10/08/2027
Seasons 11/12/2027
Newsdesk