A horror film made for just over $100,000 has secured a seven-figure distribution deal, marking a significant step in filmmaker Nicolas Curcio’s feature-directing career. Focus Features and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster have acquired the worldwide rights to Curcio’s debut, Play House, in a deal that excludes Latin America and India. The film premiered at Fantastic Fest last month and is scheduled for a full theatrical release in 2027, with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution.
The deal stands out given the film’s modest production budget. Play House cost only slightly more than $100,000 to make, while its reported sale reached seven figures. That puts the deal at roughly ten times the production budget, although the exact price has not been disclosed. For comparison, reports place the film’s budget at around 13% of the budget for Curry Barker’s recent low-budget horror hit Obsession. The comparison illustrates the potential reach of an independent production when its story attracts industry attention.
Curcio’s path to the deal began with a pitch rather than a traditional studio setup. Play House was the first winning project in Fantastic Pitches, a microbudget genre initiative launched by Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest and independent studio Chroma. The contest was designed to help filmmakers turn genre ideas into feature films with limited resources, with the winning project receiving funding for production. For Curcio, that opportunity became the starting point for a feature that would go on to attract major distributors.
The timeline was tight. After winning the inaugural contest last year, Curcio and his collaborators completed the film in under a year and returned to Fantastic Fest for its world premiere in September. The festival that helped set the project in motion also became the venue where audiences first saw the finished film. Its subsequent acquisition by Focus Features and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster now gives the production a route to a much wider theatrical audience.
Play House also marks Curcio’s feature directorial debut. He has built an online following on TikTok, where he has nearly 200,000 followers and more than 10 million likes. He wrote the film with his wife and creative partner, Kirby Gladstein, making the project a creative collaboration as well as a personal milestone. The cast includes Will Harrison, Jessica Sula, Jordan Gonzalez and James Urbaniak.
At the centre of the story is Elliot, played by Harrison, who attempts to win back his ex by renovating a run-down house. His plans take a disturbing turn when he discovers VHS tapes in the basement featuring an unaired children’s television show from the 1990s. Hosted by Mr. Morton, played by Urbaniak, the programme initially appears to be a strange discovery before threatening to spill into Elliot’s real life. The premise draws its unease from a familiar object—the old videotape—and the unsettling possibility that something intended for children was never meant to be seen.
The film arrives as horror continues to explore childhood memories, strange puppets and corrupted children’s entertainment. Buddy has also drawn attention to this corner of the genre, although Play House approaches it through lost television footage and a man’s attempt to repair his personal life. The shared interest in childhood fears places the film within the broader horror conversation without making its identity dependent on a trend.
For a first feature made on such a modest budget, the acquisition represents a significant next step in Curcio’s career. The planned 2027 theatrical release will give audiences an opportunity to discover the film beyond the festival circuit, while the deal places a project born from a pitch contest on the slate of established genre players. Play House began with a small budget and a clear idea; now, its unsettling tapes are headed for a much larger screen.