Horror Highlights: CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES, CEMETERY KIDS RUN RABID

IFC ENTERTAINMENT GROUP HAS ITS BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND EVER WITH CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD: “IFC Entertainment Group had its biggest opening weekend box office success ever with the release of Eli Craig’s CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, which grossed $3.6 million at the U.S. box office. The RLJE / Shudder film, which opened as the #1 new film in the US and 5^th overall, lands the Group’s RLJE division its highest grosser to date and the Group’s widest theatrical opening, on 2,277 screens.

CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD’s opening weekend broke records for IFC Entertainment Group, surpassing its 2024 success LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL’s box office opening of $2.8 million, and IN A VIOLENT NATURE’s theatrical opening with 1,496 theaters last year.

“To say we are thrilled with the tremendous response to Eli Craig’s witty and playful adaptation of Adam Cesare’s chart-topping novel would be an understatement,” said Head of IFC Entertainment Group’s Scott Shooman. “This success is the result of great storytelling, tireless work from the entire team at IFC Entertainment Group and is a huge win for our RLJE division. Thanks to the guidance of Mark Ward, RLJE’s Chief Acquisition Officer, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD has become our largest theatrical grosser ever as well as the biggest box office opening weekend for our company. This speaks volumes to how the IFC Entertainment Group synergistically operates and how our brands are growing – aiming to deliver unique genre-leaning titles with mass appeal.”

Based on the Bram Stoker Award-winning horror novel by Adam Cesare, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD is from Temple Hill Entertainment, the production team behind smash hit SMILE, and stars Katie Douglas (GINNY & GEORGIA), Carson MacCormac (SHAZAM!), Aaron Abrams (HANNIBAL), Will Sasso (THE THREE STOOGES) and Kevin Durand (ABIGAIL). The film made its World Premiere at SXSW in March and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

The success of CLOWN comes on the heels of IFC Entertainment Group’s recently-announced brand refresh, which formalized the integrated structure of AMC Networks’ four distinct film verticals — Independent Film Company, IFC Center, RLJE, and the premiere horror streamer Shudder.

Upcoming 2025 titles for the IFC Entertainment Group include Sean Byrne’s thriller DANGEROUS ANIMALS, which will debut as part of Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight later this week, and Jay Duplass’s SXSW Audience Award-winning film THE BALTIMORONS. “

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FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES’ Mother’s Day Screening Gone Haywire: “Mothers and their families were invited to a special screening of a romantic comedy – check out what happens when the lights dim and the real film begins…”

“The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice—“FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES.” Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.

FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES is directed by Adam Stein (Freaks, Kim Possible) & Zach Lipovsky (Freaks, Kim Possible). The screenplay is by Guy Busick (Ready or Not, Scream) & Lori Evans Taylor (Cellar Door, Bed Rest) and story is by Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming, “Skeleton Crew”) and Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor. It is based on characters created by Jeffrey Reddick (Final Destination franchise).

The film stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana (The Friendship Game, “The Flash”), Teo Briones (“Chucky,” “Will vs. The Future”), Richard Harmon (The Age of Adaline, “The 100”), Owen Patrick Joyner (“Julie and the Phantoms,” “100 Things to Do Before High School”), Anna Lore (They/Them, “Gotham Knights”), Rya Kihlstedt (Deep Impact, Home Alone 3), with Brec Bassinger (“Stargirl,” “Bella and the Bulldogs”), and Tony Todd (Final Destination franchise, Candyman). “

In Theaters and IMAX on May 16, 2025

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CEMETERY KIDS RUN RABID #1: “YOU CAN’T ESCAPE THIS GAME, EVEN IN YOUR DREAMS! Oni Press – the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997 – is proud to announce the upcoming release of CEMETERY KIDS RUN RABID #1, a synapse-shredding new level for the boundary-breaking science-horror hybrid that began with CEMETERY KIDS DON’T DIE from acclaimed writer Zac Thompson (Into the Unbeing – Parts 1 & 2) and electrifying artist Daniel Irizarri (EC’s Cruel Universe)! Return to the world of Thompson and Irizarri’s Thompson and Irizarri’s sold-out, cyberpunk horror hit with AN ALL-NEW JUMPING-ON POINT will launch new readers and returning fans alike even deeper into a pixelated landscape haunted by an all-too-real evil…

One year ago, four friends barely escaped the unrelenting terror of the video game called Nightmare Cemetery. After spending endless hours locked into the innovative Dreamwave—the first gaming console played entirely while you sleep—in order to save one of their own from the game’s all-too-real consequences, they survived . . . barely. But after their harrowing rescue, they’ve decided they’ve had enough of Nightmare Cemetery and its enigmatic final boss, the King of Sleep. That is, until the newest DLC, The Blighted Sprawl, suddenly appears online with a promise to reveal the truth of what actually lurks at the heart of Nightmare Cemetery’s digital darkness . . . and why its effects are now bleeding out into the real world in an array of bizarre and disturbing new ways.

“Zac and Daniel have brilliantly amplified the terror and heartbreak of these Cemetery Kids.” said Sierra Hahn, editor in chief. “It makes for a thrilling ride back into Nightmare Cemetery where they’ll confront real-world horrors leaving you to wonder if they ever left the game all . . .”

“Returning to the strange and violent world of Cemetery Kids with the singular Daniel Irizarri is a thrilling privilege,” said writer Zac Thompson. “So we’re not here to waste your time. Run Rabid takes everything you loved about the first volume and amplifies it ten-fold for a character-driven horror story played on nightmare difficulty. It’s a meaner, scarier book that reckons with false victories and dead futures. And it’s all soaked in the gore and viscera of the disgusting monsters that live inside your head. So come, experience your nightmares with us. And try not to worry about waking up.”

“Continuing Cemetery Kids has let us really hone in on what makes this world unique and terrifying,” said artist Daniel Irizarri. “Zac’s writing is my favorite so far, tapping further into our anxieties about the invasive intelligences of future psycho-technologies, creating a genuine sense of dread that our characters are truly in over their heads and the nightmare is consuming them bit by bit. The dual-reality nature also evolves as the kids feel more alone than ever finding new, terrible ways of coping with a dying future society by day, while in nightmares, exploring our abandoned liminal spaces twisted and rotted by time and trauma. Their RPG avatars may have gotten upgrades, but nothing can prepare them for THE BLIGHTED SPRAWL.”

The dream may be over… but the nightmare is just beginning when Zac Thompson and Daniel Irizarri unlock a new dimension of fear this August in CEMETERY KIDS RUN RABID #1 – featuring stunning covers by Irizarri, Martin Simmonds (The Department of Truth), and Gegê Schall (Better Angels)!

For more updates on Oni Press, visit them on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.”

CEMETERY KIDS RUN RABID #1 (OF 4)

• WRITTEN BY ZAC THOMPSON
• ART BY DANIEL IRIZARRI
• COVER A BY  DANIEL IRIZARRI
• COVER B BY MARTIN SIMMONDS
• COVER C BY GEGÊ SCHALL
• FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY MARTIN SIMMONDS
• ON SALE AUGUST 13, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PAGES | FC
• IOC: 6/19/2025
• FOC: 7/14/2025