Cinedigm has recently announced a partnership with Tony DeRosa-Grund, the creator of the immensely successful horror film series, The Conjuring, which grossed over $2 billion. The partnership will develop a new paranormal horror franchise, The Haunted, based on true events. While the details of the story are being kept confidential, Cinedigm has confirmed that the franchise will begin with a family’s real-life supernatural experiences, intertwined with historical facts and legends surrounding a young pregnant woman accused of witchcraft by her own father. The convergence of these events places the family in grave danger.
DeRosa-Grund, who previously created the storyline and roadmap for The Conjuring franchise, intends to replicate his prior success by building The Haunted universe through sequels, historical prequels, and spin-offs. The franchise will primarily focus on a multi-generational family’s encounters with malevolent supernatural forces and the rare and unfortunate circumstances they suffered, such as repeated physical harm and even death. The horror genre will be pushed to new depths with the fact that these events could happen to anyone, and the family’s struggle to survive will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Tony DeRosa-Grund, a modern master of the horror genre, on The Haunted franchise,” said Tom Owen, Managing Director of Cinedigm/Bloody Disgusting. “Based on the true-life events, these films will take audiences on a wild and terrifying journey into the world of the paranormal, unlike any other ever seen before in film. We are confident The Haunted, will set a new bar for horror movies and will absolutely resonate with horror enthusiasts, as well as every other audience quadrant.”
“Having created, produced and written the story for the original The Conjuring, I can say, with absolute clarity and certainty, that The Haunted is exponentially better, truer and more terrifying,” said DeRosa-Grund. “I am truly excited to be working with Tom and Brad [of Cinedigm/Bloody Disgusting] who “got it,” and embraced the project right from our very first pitch meeting. I want to also thank Cinedigm Chairman Chris McGurk, who not only backed my very first feature film, but also convinced me to come out of my retirement for this project.”
The deal was negotiated by Yolanda Macias, Chief Content Officer, on behalf of Cinedigm and Attorney Jonnathan O. Owens on behalf of Tony DeRosa-Grund. With DeRosa-Grund having now completed the script, Cinedigm and Bloody Disgusting will next look to attach a Director before going into production with DeRosa-Grund producing through the Nverse Pictures banner later this year.
