According to Deadline, Universal will now be releasing its upcoming movie Night Swim on January 5, 2024, which means the first major horror movie of the following year will now have an earlier debut date. The movie’s initial release date was set for January 19, 2024.
Despite the lack of plot details, the film, which stars Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon, is billed as a supernatural horror-thriller set around a home pool. The movie’s tagline is simply “No running. Don’t dive. A lifeguard is not present. After dark, no swimming. The 2014 short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, who is also directing and co-writing Night Swim, served as the inspiration for the movie’s plot.
The movie is a partnership between Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster, two well-known names in the horror genre, who are making it for Universal as part of Blumhouse’s ongoing distribution agreement with the company. James Wan for Atomic and Jason Blum for Blumhouse will produce Night Swim. Executive producers include Ryan Turek for Blumhouse, Michael Clear and Judson Scott for Atomic, and Alayna Glasthal for Atomic. Both Wan and Blum have busy schedules.
Wan will release his written and directed Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom sequel for DC Studios at the end of the year, and Blum is producing the upcoming Exorcist reboot project and the eagerly awaited Five Nights At Freddy’s movie, both of which will arrive in October 2023.
The Universal/Blumhouse crew is no stranger to this release window as the first week of the year is frequently a strong week for horror films. Their sci-fi horror movie M3GAN, which was also made by Blum and Wan, was released on January 6, 2023, and it became a huge commercial hit, earning $95 million.
Unsurprisingly, an M3GAN sequel is already in development for a 2025 release, so Universal is probably hoping for similar success with Night Swim.
Night Swim contains two powerful actors who have recently established themselves in the form of Russell and Condon. Russell, who is the son of actors Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, is most known for playing a former Captain America in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
He will return to the role in the next Marvel movie Thunderbolts. Russell appeared in the acclaimed crime drama Under the Banner of Heaven and will co-star with his father in the upcoming Godzilla and the Titans series on Apple TV+.