Andy and Barbara Muschietti Partner With Skydance on New Horror Label Nocturna

Skydance has formed a new co-owned horror division called Nocturna in partnership with hit filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti, the duo behind the blockbuster “It” movies, the company announced Thursday.

The Muschiettis will oversee the creative direction of Nocturna, which aims to produce two high-quality horror films per year for global theatrical and streaming audiences. The first project greenlit is titled “They Will Kill You,” a black comedy horror written by Kirill Sokolov and Alex Litvak, with Sokolov attached to direct.

“They Will Kill You” centers on a woman who takes a job as a housekeeper in a mysterious New York City high-rise, unaware that the building has been the site of numerous disappearances over the years. It will be produced by Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Andy and Barbara Muschietti and Dan Kagan. The film will also be produced by Nocturna co-heads of film, Russell Ackerman and John Schoenfelder.

“Andy and Barbara are visionary filmmakers who have mastered the art of scary event movies that connect with global audiences, and David and I along with the entire Skydance team are thrilled to partner with them on the launch of Nocturna,” Dana Goldberg, Skydance chief creative officer, said in a statement to TheWrap. “It’s fitting that ’They Will Kill You’ will be our first project as it perfectly encapsulates Nocturna’s mission of delivering unique and entertaining horror experiences that will live in the audiences’ nightmares for years.”

“David, Dana and Don are smart, talented, daring, and incredibly supportive, and we look forward to joining hands on this new business venture,” Andy and Barbara Muschietti added. “Under this label, we are excited to deliver the full range of emotions that our movies pack: Heart, humor and horror.”

The Muschiettis broke out with 2013’s “Mama” and went on to huge success with the “It” movies based on Stephen King’s classic novel, which grossed over $1.1 billion globally. They are next adapting the “It” universe into a prequel series for Max titled “Welcome to Derry.”

The launch of Nocturna comes on the heels of a banner year for Skydance, which scored hits across film and television with “Top Gun: Maverick,” the “Mission: Impossible” movies, “The Family Plan” on Apple TV+ and “Reacher” on Prime Video.

The Muschiettis are reppedd by WME, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole and RMCPMK.

Sokolov is attached to direct “Ultra” for Tristar. His feature debut, “Why Don’t You Just Die,” is an action-filled black comedy that premiered at Fantasia where it won the Audience Award and “Best New Director.” Arrow just released the film, and it currently has a “Certified Fresh” rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. His sophomore effort, “No Looking Back,” premiered at SXSW in 2022. Kirill is repped by CAA, Good Fear and Todd Rubenstein at Morris Yorn.

Litvak is a former feature executive turned screenwriter whose produced credits include “Predators” (2010), “The Three Musketeers” (2011) and Disney+’s “Secret Society Of Second Born Royals” (2020). Most recently, he sold action specs “Versus” to Universal and “Arcana” to Lionsgate. He’s currently working on an action-adventure show about young Harry Houdini for Danny Strong and Fox TV, as well as serialized heist “The Score” for Starz. Litvak is repped by Fourth Wall Management and Karl Austen and Kelvin Le at Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.

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