Horror has the weekend’s biggest new cinema opening, while familiar sci-fi worlds are planning their next chapters. Today’s Horror and Sci-Fi Brief takes in Other Mommy, Mike Flanagan’s Exorcist trailer, Blumhouse’s adaptation slate and the latest from Star Trek, Stargate, Star Wars and Clayface.
The News That Matters
Other Mommy leads the box office, but the second weekend will matter
- US/Canada opening estimate: $27.5 million
- Worldwide opening: approximately $45 million
- Director: Rob Savage
- Starring: Jessica Chastain
Other Mommy has opened at number one in North America with an estimated $27.5 million. Overseas takings of $17.6 million put the worldwide start at roughly $45 million, against a reported $19 million production budget.
That is a substantial opening for a comparatively modest horror production, but the audience response complicates the picture: the film received a D+ CinemaScore. Opening-weekend ticket sales show how effectively a film attracted viewers; its next weekend will give a clearer indication of whether those viewers are encouraging others to go. A production budget alone cannot tell us whether it has made a profit.
The Exorcist: Martyrs turns a murder investigation towards the supernatural
- Film: The Exorcist: Martyrs
- Writer and director: Mike Flanagan
- Starring: Scarlett Johansson and Chiwetel Ejiofor
- US cinema release: 12 March 2027
The first full trailer for The Exorcist: Martyrs is here. Scarlett Johansson plays New York detective Julie Miller, whose old serial-killer case resurfaces when her name appears at a new murder scene. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s former prison chaplain and Sasha Calle’s rookie detective join an investigation that reaches beyond an ordinary crime.
The detective-story framework gives Flanagan a different way into this franchise: clues, buried history and professional certainty coming under pressure. Watch the official trailer below to see how that approach meets the series’ supernatural territory.
Blumhouse brings horror comics and an indie game into its next slate
- Something Is Killing the Children director: Craig Zobel
- Comic creators: James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera
- Amanda the Adventurer: film in development
Craig Zobel will direct the live-action Something Is Killing the Children film, while a separate adult animated series is also being developed with comic co-creator James Tynion IV. Blumhouse used its New York Comic Con presentation to set out both versions of the adaptation.
The company also announced a deal with MatPat to develop Amanda the Adventurer as a feature film. These projects show how widely horror now looks for its next screen story, from comics to independent games. The creative attachments are meaningful progress; casting, production and release announcements will tell us when audiences can actually expect to see them.
Starfleet Academy sets a March return and adds two family connections
- Series: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
- Season two: March 2027 on Paramount+
- Guest stars: Bill Nighy and Rosemarie DeWitt
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy returns for its second and final season in March 2027. Bill Nighy will play Nahla’s estranged father, Nyk Ake, while Rosemarie DeWitt joins as Tarima’s mother, Laytha Sadal, the First Lady of Betazed. An exact premiere day is still to be announced.
Those family ties offer something more personal alongside the cadets’ next challenges. With Holly Hunter’s Nahla facing a figure from her own past, there is room for the people guiding the academy to be tested as thoroughly as its students.
A new Stargate development effort turns to Jac Schaeffer
- Project: new Stargate television series
- Reported creative lead: Jac Schaeffer
- Studio: Amazon MGM Studios
Jac Schaeffer is reportedly developing a new Stargate series for Amazon MGM Studios, with a writers’ room expected to follow. The project comes under her overall studio deal and follows an earlier effort led by Martin Gero that did not move forward.
Schaeffer’s work on WandaVision and Agatha All Along makes her an interesting choice for a franchise built around unfamiliar worlds and the teams exploring them. For now, this is development news: there is no announced cast or premiere date, and it would be premature to promise either a continuation of the old shows or a complete reboot.
Star Wars and Marvel prepare a six-issue collision
- Comic: Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles
- Writer: Kevin Smith
- Artist: David Marquez
- Launch window: January 2027
Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles will bring Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo into a crossover with Marvel’s heroes. Kevin Smith writes the six-issue series, with David Marquez on art, as the two publishers’ shared history reaches the fiftieth anniversary of A New Hope.
The premise uses a spell that fractures reality to bring the worlds together, with Doctor Doom and Darth Vader among the villains involved. For readers, the attraction is the encounter itself: familiar characters meeting a universe with very different rules. The announced launch window is January 2027.
Clayface tracking points to interest, with a wide range of possible outcomes
- Film: Clayface
- Director: James Watkins
- Starring: Tom Rhys Harries
- North American cinema release: 23 October 2026
Clayface is approaching release with encouraging—but unsettled—box-office forecasts. Reports citing early tracking put its North American opening around $23 million to $33 million, with some more recent projections above $30 million and other reads closer to $20 million. These are forecasts, not ticket-sales results.
James Watkins directs Tom Rhys Harries in the body-horror film, which has a reported $40 million production budget. Its smaller scale changes the comparison with a conventional superhero blockbuster. The useful question is whether interest extends beyond established DC fans once reviews and wider word of mouth arrive.
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
The most immediate choice is Other Mommy in cinemas; the most revealing next look is Flanagan’s Exorcist trailer. Beyond those, there is plenty to anticipate, but a useful distinction remains: Starfleet Academy has a return window, while Stargate is still finding its next form. Enjoy the possibilities without treating every development announcement as a finished programme.
Which of these horror and sci-fi stories has most caught your attention?