Paramount Sets June 2027 Release for Parker Finn's 'Possession' Remake Opposite 'How to Train Your Dragon 2'
Paramount has planted a flag on 11 June 2027 for a wide theatrical release of its remake of Possession, the 1981 cult horror film originally written and directed by Andrzej Żuławski (Deadline).
Parker Finn directs from his own script. Finn made his name with Smile, the 2022 horror hit that grossed over $217 million worldwide on a $17 million budget, and its 2024 sequel. Callum Turner and Margaret Qualley star as the married couple at the centre of the story — the roles originated by Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill, whose performances in Żuławski's original, set in Cold War-era West Berlin, made the film a enduring touchstone for horror devotees.
The supporting cast runs deep. Diego Calva, Madeline Brewer, Emory Cohen, Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Paul Dano round out the ensemble. Finn produces alongside Jonathan Fass via their Bad Feeling banner, Roy Lee and Andrew Childs via Vertigo, and Robert Pattinson, with Marc Bienstock as executive producer. That producer roster — Pattinson's involvement is particularly notable — signals a project with serious backing rather than a quiet genre pickup.
The 11 June 2027 slot puts Possession directly opposite Universal Pictures' How to Train Your Dragon 2, the sequel to this summer's live-action remake. A horror film opening head-to-head with a family franchise is a classic bit of counter-programming — the studio logic being that the audiences barely overlap, so both can coexist in the same weekend.
The surrounding June 2027 corridor is already crowded. One week earlier, on 4 June, Columbia Pictures opens Skeletons, a horror film directed by JT Mollner and starring Brie Larson, opposite Lionsgate's John Rambo. One week after Possession, on 18 June, Columbia returns with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, the third instalment of the animated franchise. That gives Possession a narrow window before a likely blockbuster absorbs the market's attention.
For context on the original: Żuławski's Possession premiered at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, where Adjani won the Best Actress prize. The film follows a woman whose marriage collapses into something far stranger than infidelity. It was banned in the UK on video for years and cut substantially for its US release, which only deepened its cult reputation over decades. Finn's remake will be the first major studio attempt to revisit the material.
Paramount's bet is straightforward. Horror, when it lands, is among the most reliable genres at the box office — low budgets, high multiples, strong opening weekends. Finn's Smile franchise proved that formula. Whether Possession can do the same with source material this cultish, on a date this competitive, is a question the 2027 summer will answer.
