Anything But Ghosts, the next film from writer-director Curry Barker, is scheduled to open on May 7, 2027. The horror-comedy will be released worldwide by Focus Features, while Universal Pictures International will handle distribution outside the domestic market.
The date gives Barker’s follow-up a clear theatrical target after the breakout performance of his debut feature, Obsession. Barker directs Anything But Ghosts and wrote the screenplay with Cooper Tomlinson, his longtime collaborator and an Obsession cast member. Both Barker and Tomlinson will also appear as co-leads.
They are joined by Violet McGraw, Chris Reinacher, Bryce Dallas Howard and Aaron Paul. Beyond the central setup, no character names or role details have been provided, so it remains unclear how the ensemble will be divided among the would-be paranormal investigators, the people around them, or whatever supernatural threat pushes the story off the rails.
A ghosthunting stunt goes wrong
The premise centers on a group of aspiring ghosthunters whose search for attention becomes much more dangerous than they expect. They are chasing fame, not simply conducting a private paranormal investigation, and their efforts eventually spiral into frightening chaos.
That framing is important because it supplies the comedy engine as well as the horror hook. “Horror-comedy” describes stories that deliberately alternate, combine or collide scares with comic material. Here, the gap between the group’s apparent ambitions and their lack of preparedness is positioned as a major source of tension. They want to be seen as ghosthunting personalities, but they find themselves confronting consequences they cannot manage.
The supplied details do not establish whether the characters are making videos, streaming, staging investigations or pursuing fame by another means. Still, the attention-seeking angle makes the premise distinctly modern: the danger is tied not only to ghosts, but to the decision to turn an encounter with the unknown into a public-facing aspiration. For a separate look at the tools and platforms surrounding modern creator workflows, see our coverage of Apple Creator Studio and Final Cut Camera controls.
There is also no indication yet of the film’s setting, the kind of ghosts involved, or whether the story leans more heavily toward supernatural menace, satire, splatter, character comedy or some combination of all four. The concise setup leaves ample room for the film’s eventual marketing to define its particular flavor of horror.
Barker and Tomlinson continue a creative partnership
Anything But Ghosts continues Barker and Tomlinson’s collaboration after Obsession. Their roles behind and in front of the camera give the new project a notably hands-on creative core: Barker is director, co-writer, co-lead and executive producer, while Tomlinson is co-writer, co-lead and executive producer.
Related coverage includes ‘Anything But Ghosts’ Lands May 7, 2027 Release Date.
That degree of overlap can matter for a genre film built around a potentially specific comic voice. The director and one of the principal performers have shaped the script together, rather than joining a completed screenplay solely as cast. It does not reveal how the film will play, but it establishes continuity in the creative relationship behind Barker’s next feature.
The project’s cast also combines Barker and Tomlinson with performers from different parts of the screen landscape. McGraw, Reinacher, Howard and Paul are all confirmed, but the available information does not assign them to heroes, skeptics, mentors, victims or villains. For now, their presence is a cast announcement rather than a roadmap to the story’s twists.
The long shadow of Obsession
Expectations will naturally be shaped by Obsession, which became one of the summer’s most prominent box-office stories. The supernatural horror film grossed $519 million worldwide on a budget under $1 million. It also recorded a 39% rise in earnings during its second weekend, an unusual result in the current theatrical environment.
Those numbers make Anything But Ghosts more than a routine sophomore release. A debut made for less than $1 million reaching $519 million worldwide is an enormous commercial result, while a second-weekend increase signals sustained audience momentum rather than a film exhausting its interest immediately after opening. The available details attribute particular resonance to Gen Z moviegoers.
Obsession followed Bear, a lonely young man played by Michael Johnston, who uses a mysterious toy called the One Wish Willow in an attempt to make his crush, Nikki, fall for him. Nikki is played by Inde Navarrette. The wish turns catastrophic, bringing bloody consequences to Bear, Nikki and their friends. Megan Lawless and Tomlinson also co-starred.
The earlier film’s setup and the new one’s setup share a broad genre pattern without suggesting that the stories are otherwise connected: a decision made out of a flawed human desire opens the door to supernatural disaster. In Obsession, that desire is romantic control. In Anything But Ghosts, it is fame. Both concepts place characters in situations where a shortcut or stunt becomes the start of something far more dangerous.
Obsession also attracted early awards conversation for Navarrette. That critical attention, paired with its extraordinary commercial performance, puts more scrutiny on Barker’s next move. But Anything But Ghosts should not be treated as a known repeat of the earlier movie. Its genre label is explicitly horror-comedy, its ensemble is different, and its plot pivots from a cursed wish to amateur ghosthunters seeking recognition.
What the distribution arrangement means
Focus Features holds worldwide rights to Anything But Ghosts. Universal Pictures International will handle international distribution. In practical terms, worldwide rights describe the company’s ability to control and exploit the film across territories, while international distribution refers to the work of bringing it to audiences outside the domestic market. The announcement does not provide a territory-by-territory release plan, release formats, or any information about later home-viewing availability.
The producing group includes Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Spooky Pictures and Divide/Conquer, working in association with Image Nation and That’s a Bad Idea. Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Jason Blum, Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath are producers. Daniel Bekerman, Barker, Tomlinson and Ben Ross are executive producers.
Producer and executive-producer credits can reflect different responsibilities and arrangements, but the announcement does not specify the individual duties of each credited person. What it does establish is a broad producing team around Barker’s second feature, with Barker and Tomlinson retaining executive-producer involvement alongside their creative and acting roles.
What has and has not been revealed
- Release date: May 7, 2027.
- Genre: Horror-comedy.
- Director: Curry Barker.
- Writers: Curry Barker and Cooper Tomlinson.
- Confirmed cast: Barker, Tomlinson, Violet McGraw, Chris Reinacher, Bryce Dallas Howard and Aaron Paul.
- Core premise: Fame-seeking amateur ghosthunters get in far beyond their depth and events become terrifyingly chaotic.
- Rights and distribution: Focus Features has worldwide rights; Universal Pictures International handles international distribution.
Not yet detailed are character names, a trailer, footage, additional casting, a runtime, rating, specific locations, or the exact nature of the supernatural force. With the film dated for 2027, the basic picture is now in place: Barker’s next feature will turn a fame-chasing paranormal investigation into a horror-comedy, reuniting him with Tomlinson while expanding to an ensemble that includes Howard and Paul.
