Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to the Japanese sci-fi horror film “New Religion.”
“New Religion” is a surrealist body horror film written, directed and produced by first-time feature filmmaker Kondo Keishi. It stars Seto Kaho, Nunami Daiki, Oka Satoshi and Ryuseigun Saionji.
After her daughter’s death, divorced Miyabi begins working as a call girl. One day, she meets an unsettling customer who wants to take pictures of her body parts. Soon, she realizes that every time she allows her body to be photographed her daughter’s spirit gets closer. She must decide how far she is willing to go to connect with her daughter once again.
“New Religion” had its North American premiere last month at the Slamdance Film Festival and was nominated for best narrative feature. It previously screened at festivals around the world including its world premiere at Arrow Video Frightfest, the Osaka Asian Film Festival, the Warsaw International Film Festival and the Lisbon International Horror Film Festival.
Cinedigm plans to release “New Religion” later this year on its horror streaming platform, Screambox, which is backed by its Bloody Disgusting unit, and to brand the film as a Screambox Original.
“Kondo has shown tremendous ambition for his first feature in creating this haunting body horror film,” said Brad Miska, MD of Cinedigm-Bloody Disgusting. “His unrelenting storytelling and one-of a kind cinematography makes him one to watch for Screambox fans.”
The deal was negotiated by Brandon Hill, director of acquisitions at Cinedigm, and Matteo Lovadina, CEO of Reel Suspects, on behalf of the filmmakers.
Indie film, “Terrifier 2” recently gave Screambox a huge boost. Produced by Bloody Disgusting on a $250,000 budget, the surprise box office hit made over $10 million dollars in theaters. The announcement that Screambox would become the official streaming home of “Terrifier 2,” boosted the platform’s subscriber base by 144% in the two weeks following its debut.
More broadly, Screambox features a mix of content for casual and die-hard horror fans. The service is refreshed monthly with content from the company’s extensive genre library across a range of horror sub-genres: supernatural, slashers and zombies. The platform currently features classic horror films like “Slumber Party Massacre,” “House on Haunted Hill,” blockbuster indies “The Outwaters” and “Terrifier 2” as well as series “The Island” and “Master of Horror.”
The platform recently acquired rights to the docuseries “RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop” and the documentary film “Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story.”