David F. Sandberg, the director behind 2025’s Until Dawn adaptation, has been tapped to direct a new psychological horror film titled Mommy’s Home for Lionsgate. The studio announced the news on Monday.
Mommy’s Home follows “a young dad whose family life becomes terrifyingly unhinged when his cryogenically preserved mom is unfrozen and sent to live with him.” Deadline’s original report on the project specified that the mother is 24 years old at the time she is unfrozen, having been cryogenically preserved decades earlier. This means her son is now raising a family of his own while his mother remains physically the same age she was when she went under.
About the project, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group President Erin Westerman said, “David’s mastery of horror and off-kilter sense of humor make him the perfect match for this material. In his hands, the movie will be deeply disturbing in the best possible way, while giving great actors the opportunity to really go all in and embrace their darker sides.”
She also praised the script directly, adding, “We have loved James Morosini’s script from the moment we read it. He’s written something incredibly original, with such a distinctive voice, great characters and a dark, twisted sense of humor. We’re thrilled that David responded so strongly to the material.”
The screenplay was written by James Morosini, an actor and filmmaker who penned, directed and starred in the 2022 dark comedy I Love My Dad, marking his feature directorial debut. Mommy’s Home is his second feature screenwriting credit. Morosini has also continued working as an actor, recently starring in Netflix’s It’s What’s Inside and Steve Pink’s sci-fi thriller Terrestrial. He has also appeared in television series including American Horror Story, Feud, The Sex Lives of College Girls and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Morosini originally sold the script to Lionsgate in 2024 and was set to direct it himself. The studio has since moved forward with Sandberg directing instead, with Morosini remaining attached as writer and executive producer.
Along with directing, Sandberg is producing the film with his longtime creative and life partner Lotta Losten through their company Mångata. Additional producers include Craig Flores, Dawn Olmstead and Anonymous Content. Nathan Kahane and James Morosini will serve as executive producers, alongside David Levine, Garrett Kemble and Ryan Schwartz on behalf of Anonymous Content. Scott O’Brien and Maria Ascanio are overseeing the project for Lionsgate, with Dan Freedman negotiating the deal on the studio’s behalf.
Beyond Until Dawn, Sandberg is best known for directing 2023’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods, 2019’s Shazam!, 2016’s Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation, giving him a strong track record across both studio tentpoles and grounded horror titles. That combination lines up well with Mommy’s Home‘s blend of family dysfunction and genre scares. Sandberg first built a following by making no-budget horror short films online under the pseudonym “ponysmasher”, with his acclaimed 2013 short Lights Out later becoming the basis for his 2016 feature directorial debut of the same name.
Mommy’s Home adds to an already packed slate for Sandberg. He also has the sci-fi horror film Below in development at Netflix and Atomic Monster, along with A Little Slice of Hell, currently set up at Paramount, continuing his run as one of the most in-demand genre directors working across multiple studios.
Morosini, who also sold his elevated comedy spec Inner Child to Universal, which is currently being adapted for the Lego Universe, is next set to direct his original project Bulls, with Dylan O’Brien, Lewis Pullman and Kaia Gerber attached to star.
With a distinctive, darkly comic premise and a director known for blending genuine scares with off-kilter humor, Mommy’s Home is shaping up to be one of the more unusual horror projects on Lionsgate’s upcoming slate, pairing Sandberg’s genre instincts with Morosini’s sharp, original voice as a writer.
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