Universal and Legendary Pictures have announced release dates for two upcoming horror-themed projects. Michael Dougherty’s demonic Christmas tale, Krampus, will arrive on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 while Nic Mathieu’s Spectral will hit the big screen on Friday, August 12, 2016. Open Road, meanwhile, has delayed director Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler by just two weeks, moving the release from October 17 to October 31.
Based on the ancient legend of a pagan demon who punishes the wicked, Krampus offers a twisted horror comedy set during the holidays that is written and directed by Dougherty (Trick ’r Treat). Co-written by Todd Casey and Zach Shields and produced by Legendary’s Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Alex Garcia, this darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul will be released by Universal Pictures and will face off against Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special, Ridley Scott’s The Martian and Disney-Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur.
Spectral, meanwhile, offers a 3D action thriller that tracks an elite Spec Ops team on a mission to take down an aggressive phantom threat that cannot be explained. It will be directed by Mathieu and stars James Badge Dale, Emily Mortimer, Max Martini and Bruce Greenwood. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni will produce the film from writers Ian Fried, George Nolfi and John Gatins with Jillian Share and Guy Riedel executive producing. It is the first film to claim the August 12, 2016 date.
Nightcrawler, finally, stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling — where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Rene Russo as Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou thrives. In the breakneck, ceaseless search for footage, he becomes the star of his own story.
Nightcrawler opens opposite Rowan Joffe’s Before I Go to Sleep and Alexandre Aja’s Horns, both opening in limited releases.
