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Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Atomic Monster have acquired the distribution rights to River, the new survival slasher from writer/director Joshua Giuliano, for more than $10 million following its world premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. The deal, first reported by Deadline and IndieWire, makes River one of the biggest sales of this year’s TIFF. Independent Film Company, which originally backed the film alongside its horror streaming service Shudder, is selling the movie after strong interest from distributors following its Midnight Madness premiere.
Deadline reports that Sony was the last competing studio in the bidding, with an $8 million offer, before Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster ultimately won the film for more than $10 million.
What is River about?
River follows three estranged siblings who reunite to scatter their late father’s ashes on the river he loved. Their trip takes a terrifying turn when their boat breaks down, leaving them stranded on a rural waterway while they are stalked by masked killers.
The film stars Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe, Max Mattern, and Dane DiLiegro. Giuliano wrote and directed River, which marks his feature directorial debut.
JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray praised River in his review, giving the film a 7/10 rating and describing it as a well-made, gory survival horror movie with a strong cast.
River marks a major opportunity for Joshua Giuliano
The River acquisition is a significant step forward for Giuliano, who is already working with Blumhouse Atomic Monster on his next movie. Just before the River deal, Blumhouse Atomic Monster, Focus Features, Divide/Conquer, and Spooky Pictures announced Occupant, Giuliano’s next horror film.
Giuliano’s rapid rise has drawn comparisons to filmmaker Curry Barker, whose horror movie Obsession was acquired by Focus Features out of TIFF for $15 million. Blumhouse Atomic Monster subsequently joined that project as a producer. Obsession went on to earn more than $513 million worldwide. Blumhouse and Universal are also backing Barker’s next movie, Anything But Ghosts, while Blumhouse Atomic Monster has helped develop filmmaker Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, which earned more than $394 million worldwide after its release through A24.
River was already on Blumhouse’s radar
The connection between Giuliano and Blumhouse Atomic Monster predates the River acquisition. Sam Zimmerman, who oversees the studio’s indie filmmaking efforts, previously worked with Giuliano at Shudder.
Giuliano developed River during his time at Shudder, giving Zimmerman an opportunity to see the filmmaker’s work before the movie premiered at TIFF. That relationship appears to have helped make Blumhouse Atomic Monster eager to acquire the slasher.
The film currently has an 83% fresh score from 12 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, according to the reports.
River was produced by Nick Antosca, Alex Hedlund, and Steven Schneider. Executive producers include Roy Lee, Ben Ross, Matt Brodlie, Jonathan Kier, Jeffrey Tinnell, Robert Tinnell, Jason Blum, and others.
A release date has not yet been announced. For now, River represents one of the biggest horror acquisitions to emerge from TIFF 2026 and another major bet by Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster on a promising new horror filmmaker.
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