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©2026 Kinolime Inc
411_WIRE \ Industry NewsPublished Oct 13, 2026 1 min read

Blumhouse Deepens Its Bet on Internet Creators With Curry Barker

By Kinolime Editorial Team // Verified Human Journalist Review

Summary

Barker's Anything But Ghosts is dated for May 2027, and TikTok creator Heidi Wong is developing a short that could become a feature.
Blumhouse used its BlumFest panel at New York Comic Con on Friday to expand its slate of projects from online creators, Complex reported. Curry Barker will direct and star in Anything But Ghosts alongside Cooper Tomlinson, with the two co-writing the film, which opens May 7, 2027. Heidi Wong, known online as @itsheidiwong, will develop a short film with Blumhouse that could later grow into a feature. YouTube creator MatPat was separately announced as a producer on an Amanda the Adventurer adaptation and will develop horror games and internet projects for the company.
Barker built a following on YouTube and TikTok with sketches and short films, including the comedy series That's a Bad Idea with Tomlinson, the Associated Press reported. After his $800 found-footage film Milk & Serial went viral on YouTube, he made Obsession for $750,000. Focus Features bought it for $15 million out of Toronto, and it has grossed $286 million worldwide, the biggest hit in Focus's history.
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The path from YouTube to the multiplex is no longer a novelty. It's a pipeline. Curry Barker went from an $800 movie that couldn't find a distributor to a $286 million hit, and studios noticed that creators like him arrive with something most first-time directors don't have: proof that strangers will choose to watch their work. An audience that already exists is the most valuable thing a filmmaker can bring into a meeting.
The short-to-feature deal with Heidi Wong is the part to watch, because it's a low-risk way for a studio to test whether an online voice can carry a longer story. It's also the clearest lesson for emerging filmmakers. Nobody is waiting for permission anymore. Make the short, put it where people can find it, build the audience in public, and the industry will come looking. Gatekeepers still exist, but the door they guard is no longer the only way in.

Source:

Complex

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