Blumhouse and Universal land TIFF slasher 'River' for over $10 million
Blumhouse and Universal Pictures have bought River, a slasher film that set off a bidding war at the Toronto Film Festival, for over $10 million, according to Deadline.
The deal closed after a crowded race. Sony bid $8 million before Blumhouse and Universal topped it, while Focus Features, Paramount, A24 and Netflix had passed by Saturday night, Deadline reported on 14 September 2026.
Variety had earlier confirmed the film was in talks to go to Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster, describing those talks as the first major deal of this year’s festival, in reporting published on 14 September 2026. News of the sale was first reported by IndieWire.
River is the debut feature written and directed by Joshua Giuliano, and it had its world premiere at Toronto, according to Variety. It played in Midnight Madness, the festival’s late-night section for horror and wild genre films.
The story follows three estranged siblings who reunite in their hometown after their father’s death. Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe and Max Mattern play the trio, who set out to scatter their father’s ashes at a favourite spot on a remote river. Their boat breaks down. The trip turns into a waking nightmare as they are stalked by a faceless killer.
Dane DiLiegro also stars, and Rothe plays a character named Carla. The film was originally backed by Independent Film Company and Shudder, which were selling the distribution rights, meaning the right to put the film into cinemas and on other platforms.
Giuliano trained in the American Film Institute’s directing programme and won awards for short films at Fantasia, Fantastic Fest and FrightFest. He told Deadline the idea grew from anxiety visions of his family dying in horrible ways, as reported in an interview published on 14 September 2026.
There is a prior link to the buyer. Sam Zimmerman, who leads independent films at Blumhouse Atomic Monster, worked with Giuliano on River during his time at Shudder, Deadline reported.
The filmmakers are already moving on. Blumhouse Atomic Monster, Divide/Conquer and Spooky Pictures have signed Giuliano’s next horror film, Occupant, according to Deadline. River is produced by Nick Antosca, Alex Hedlund and Steven Schneider, with Roy Lee, Ben Ross, Matt Brodlie, Jonathan Kier, Jeffrey Tinnell, Robert Tinnell and Jason Blum as executive producers. Giuliano is represented by CAA, Kaplan Perrone Entertainment and Marios Rush.
What makes this stand out is the recent history. Blumhouse and Focus Features paid $15 million for Obsession out of Toronto last year, and that film later grossed more than $513 million at the global box office, Deadline reported. River holds an 83% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes from twelve reviews.
For fans, this means a festival fright film now has a studio home with a wide release machine behind it. No cinema date has been announced.
