IFC Films and Shudder announced today that they have acquired the North American, UKI and ANZ rights to Spooky Pictures’ and Image Nation Abu Dhabi’s sci-fi horror MENACE out of the Cannes market. The acquisition continues the success of IFC Films’ and Shudder’s partnership with the production labels following the release of their previous titles WATCHER and LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, the latter of which became IFC Films’ highest-grossing opening weekend ever, approaching $10M at the U.S. box office. IFC Films and Shudder will release MENACE in 2025.

Directed by Randall Okita, whose previous feature SEE FOR ME was also released by IFC Films, the film stars Isabel May as a research student who has a psychotic breakdown and is remanded to the custody of her aunt and uncle in a small town. When strange things start happening around her and people start disappearing, she isn’t sure what is real or what is her imagination.

MENACE is written by Thom Eberhardt, and is produced by Spooky Pictures’ Roy Lee and Steven Schneider, Image Nation Abu Dhabi’s Derek Dauchy, The O Team’s Daniel Ostroff, with William Woods and Maddy Falle. Additional executive producers include star Isabel May via her banner Una Vaca Productions, Ben Ross, Rami Yasin, Tom Spriggs and Stuart Ford.

“We are thrilled to reteam with the powerhouse producers at Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Spooky Pictures, marking our third collaboration and another opportunity to match the tremendous successes we’ve had with Watcher and most recently Late Night with the Devil,” said Emily Gotto, SVP of Acquisitions and Production for Shudder. “Randall Okita is a prolific filmmaker and we’re excited to join him again by bringing his imaginative work to audiences worldwide.”

Ben Ross, Acting CEO of Image Nation Abu Dhabi said, “After successful runs on both Watcher and Late Night with the Devil, we couldn’t be more excited to partner with IFC and Shudder for a third time on Menace. We appreciate the passion that Scott, Emily and the teams have brought to these projects and can’t wait to see the outcome of this latest collaboration.”

Director Randall Okita said, “I am thrilled to be working with IFC and Shudder to share Menace with audiences around the world. They are the perfect partner for our sci-fi horror and I look forward to embarking on this journey with them for this fantastic project.”

The deal was negotiated by Jason Ishikawa for Cinetic Media, John Fremes for AGC on behalf of the filmmakers and Emily Gotto on behalf of IFC Films and Shudder.

Okita is repped by Paradigm and Principal Entertainment. May is repped by CAA, Principal Entertainment and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson McGinnis Ryan.