Blue Ruin and Rebel Ridge filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier’s next movie, once billed as ‘Untitled Halloween Project‘ is now called Slayground, as a report reveals new details.
Update: Anything Jeremy Saulnier makes is worth looking forward to, so we’ve been keeping an eye on the development of his latest film at A24 for some time now. It was previously announced last year, when it was previously billed as ‘Untitled Halloween project’ and described as a chase thriller in the mode of The Fugitive.
Since then, there’s been a few more details – the cast is said to feature Cory Michael Smith (1985, First Man, Saturday Night) as well as Chase Sui Wonders, Sophie Wilde, Imogen Poots, among others. The title was said to be October for a while, though World of Reel now hosts a new report which suggests that it’s now called Slayground.
Again, the story is said to be a twist on The Fugitive with an autumnal theme. To quote the above-linked report:
…the plot follows Smith’s character, the primary suspect in a mass murder investigation, after he escapes police custody. He goes on the run, attempting to prove his innocence while becoming the target of a massive manhunt. The film opens with an “impressive” long take, according to my source, and barely lets up.
Saulnier’s films are marked out by their terse, no-nonsense style; Blue Ruin, Green Room and Rebel Ridge are all lean, tense and superbly acted. Aside from the film project under discussion here, Saulnier’s working on a TV series called Trigger Point for Netflix; we haven’t heard much about that particular item for a few months now, though.
Slayground finished filming last year; we should be hearing something more official from A24 about release dates and so forth soon. We’ll keep you posted.
Our original story follows…
6th May 2025: Slow-burn thriller Rebel Ridge was a major success for Netflix, going by its own metrics, and so it’s little surprise that there’s been interest in whatever writer-director Jeremy Saulnier makes next. According to recent reports, though, Saulnier wants to ensure his next movie appears in cinemas – and so he’s signed a deal with indie production company A24.
Hollywood scoop acquirer Jeff Sneider (via World Of Reel) writes that Saulnier’s latest project is simply billed as ‘Untitled Halloween Project’, and that A24 ended up being the winning bidder among the competing offers from Netflix, 20th Century Studios and rival indie firm, Neon. Key to A24’s success, the reporting goes, is that a cinema release came as part of A24’s offer – something Netflix rarely gives to its productions, barring the odd high-profile exception.
Beyond this, little is known about Saulnier’s next film. From his breakthrough with Blue Ruin in 2013, the American filmmaker has become known for his lean, intense thrillers. The wry revenge fable Blue Ruin was followed by Green Room in 2015 – a raw, bloody yarn about a punk band (led by the late Anton Yelchin) trapped in a club backroom by neo-Nazis.
Read more: Jeremy Saulnier interview | Green Room, Patrick Stewart, Rebel Ridge
Saulnier broadened his canvas with 2018’s chilly Hold The Dark, before returning in 2024 with the First Blood-esque thriller Rebel Ridge; starring Aaron Pierre as a former Marine clashing with small town cops, it notched up some 30m views in its first three days on Netflix.
The director’s latest film has been compared to The Fugitive, with Sneider describing it as a “chase story”; last year, Saulnier told The Playlist that he was writing “something that’s a little more in the Green Room universe,” and that it was about “music and Halloween and fun shit.”
More on Jeremy Saulnier’s next movie as we get it.
