“Deadstream” helmers Joseph and Vanessa Winter are set to direct horror-thriller “Future Me,” based on a viral Reddit short story by Daria Vasileva. The film is the first title of a multi-picture deal between L.A. and UAE-based production company Longevity Pictures, indie genre label Spooky Pictures and Abu Dhabi’s Image Nation Studios.
Originally published in the “NoSleep” subreddit — the online community dedicated to user-generated horror fiction — “Future Me” follows a man “who receives a deeply unsettling email from his past self via the ‘FutureMe’ website, a message that draws him down a terrifying and increasingly surreal rabbit hole,” according to its synopsis.
“Deadstream” was the first feature by the husband-and-wife filmmaking team. The horror comedy premiered at SXSW in 2022 before being acquired by Shudder, where it became one of the genre streaming platform’s most acclaimed original releases. They followed that success by directing the fan-favorite segment “To Hell and Back” in found-footage horror anthology film “V/H/S/99.”
Joseph and Vanessa Winter’s next project is the previously announced film “Amityville,” a radical new spin on the Amityville Horror franchise, based on Jay Anson’s book that was published in 1977 about the paranormal experiences of the George Lutz family. The book led to nine films between 1979 and 2005. “Amityville” is being produced by Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath of Divide/Conquer and Raphael Margules and J.D. Lifshitz, principals of genre-focused production label BoulderLight Pictures.
Joseph and Vanessa Winter’s upcoming “Future Me” will instead be produced by Majd Nassif (“Mercy”) for Longevity Pictures, alongside Steven Schneider (“Late Night With the Devil”) and Roy Lee (“Weapons,” “Barbarian”) for Spooky Pictures. Image Nation Studios’ Ben Ross (“Watcher,” “Late Night With the Devil”) and Longevity Pictures’ Aysel Lyatifova, (“Six Till Midnight”) will executive produce.
“Future Me” follows the initial collaboration between Longevity Pictures, Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Studios on upcoming horror thriller “Home Safety Hotline” directed by Michael Matthews (“Love and Monsters”) and based on Night Signal Entertainment’s popular puzzle video game of the same name. Other titles on their multi-picture slate remain to be unveiled.
“Spooky Pictures and Image Nation Studios have built an incredible track record for championing high-concept, creator-driven horror storytelling, so expanding our partnership felt like a natural next step,” Nassif said in a statement.
“After the success of ‘Backrooms,’ the potential of internet lore as fertile ground for adaptation has become undeniable,” he went on to note. “So we’re excited to be bringing ‘Future Me’ to life with a team which shares our passion for original and punchy genre projects.”
Commented Spooky Pictures’ Steven Schneider and Image Nation Studios’ Ben Ross: “Longevity Pictures brings exactly the kind of creative flair and commercial instinct that we champion, so we’re thrilled to be building a slate together that combines killer storytelling with strong commercial appeal.”
“Horror filmmaking is firing on all cylinders right now, with both audiences and critics embracing fresh concepts and emerging creative voices, making this the ideal time to bring more genre films to audiences worldwide,” they added. “‘Future Me” is exactly the kind of project we’re looking to get behind — a chilling premise with a passionate existing fanbase, and with Joseph and Vanessa Winter on board, it has all the makings of a standout horror film.”