Sony Pictures Acquires Film Rights to Horror Game Mouthwashing
Sony Pictures has acquired the feature film rights to Mouthwashing, a PC video game about a crew stranded in space. The Hollywood Reporter reported the deal on 29 October 2026. Film rights are the permission to turn a book, game or other work into a movie, and the studio now holds that permission.
The game follows five crew members stranded aboard the space freighter Tulpar after it crash-lands on an asteroid. Sweden-based Wrong Organ developed it, and Critical Reflex published it. It launched on PC in 2024.
Scott Derrickson will produce the film with C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng under their Crooked Highway banner. Crooked Highway has a producing deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to make feature films for Screen Gems, one of the studio's labels.
Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay have been tapped to write the script, and Karyn Kusama is attached to direct. "Attached" means she is signed on to the project as its director. The three have worked together before, on the 2015 film The Invitation and the 2018 film Destroyer.
The game has already built a following. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it has sold nearly one million units on PC. It won best narrative and players' choice at the Horror Game Awards, and best hidden gem at the New York Game Awards. At launch it scored 88 on Metacritic, a site that averages critics' reviews, and it has overwhelmingly positive user reviews on Steam.
Fan content has travelled widely too. Content surrounding the game has drawn 63 million views on YouTube and nearly one billion views on TikTok, the same report says.
The deal was not the first word on the project. On 19 October, Daniel Richtman, an industry leaker who shares early tips about film and games, reported that Sony's Screen Gems was developing a film adaptation of the game. Dread Central carried that report.
For a small game that began on PC, the road to a studio slate is a long one. Each step now runs through a named producer, writers and a director.
