Saban Films has acquired North American distribution rights to "The Caged," a haunted-house horror directed by Jeffrey Scott Collins, according to Deadline (Deadline). The deal brings the UK-set thriller to screens across the United States and Canada — the territory the film industry calls "domestic."

The film follows a family terrorised by a dark presence after moving into a cottage in an English coastal town. The cottage, the story goes, sits on the site of a medieval prison used for those accused of witchcraft — including England's most notorious witch, hanged in 1582. The premise is inspired by true events.

Tamzin Merchant leads the cast, alongside Edmund Kingsley, Raffiella Chapman and newcomer Callen Carter. Collins both wrote and directed the screenplay. It is his second feature, following "Above the Line," which Quiver Distribution released in June.

The production credits span several independent companies. Producers are Joseph C. Grano of Set Point Entertainment, Collins through Seems Reel Entertainment, Gaby Whyte Hart of Fearless Productions, and Llewelynn Greeff of Dark Matter Studios. Executive producers include Priscilla Smith and Kendall Anlian of The Coven, Adam Margules via Angry Adam Productions, and Daniel Hockley, Ian Dawson, Rupert Hollier, Simon Fawcett, Christian Sheedy, Michael Santos and Ken Davenport. Arran MacLennan, Jed Tune and Cory Levin serve as co-producers.

The North American deal was negotiated by Steve Break on behalf of Saban Films and by The Coven on behalf of the filmmakers, with The Coven also handling international sales (Deadline).

The film's path to a distributor traces back to Berlin's European Film Market in February 2025, when Film Bridge first launched international sales on the project. At that stage, Deadline's Melanie Goodfellow reported the casting of Merchant, Kingsley and Chapman, giving the film its first trade-press visibility (Deadline). The EFM — the industry market attached to the Berlinale — is where sales agents pitch completed or in-progress films to territory buyers from around the world.

Roughly a year before the Saban acquisition, Collins had already signalled plans to scale up. In August 2025, as "The Caged" entered post-production, he announced a substantial equity investment into his production company, Seems Reel Entertainment, along with a team expansion (Deadline). That investment now sits behind a film with a North American home.

What makes this stand out is the speed of the chain: from an EFM sales launch in February 2025 to a completed acquisition by August 2026, with one feature already in the marketplace and a capitalised production company along the way. For independent horror, that is a brisk turnaround. No theatrical release date for "The Caged" has been announced.