Horror and comedy are fascinating sibling. At face value, they feel like opposite ends of a spectrum (the great distance between the emotions of fear and joy), but both artforms are about eliciting a particular reaction from audiences, and timing is a crucial part of both. If one needs evidence of this special genre relationship, one need only look at the tremendous career transformations of filmmakers Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger in recent years – and after seeing all of their success, I am elated that Bill Hader is now ready to make a scary splash of his own.
According to Deadline, Hader is now attached to make his directorial debut writing and helming an original horror film titled They Know – and he is also set to star. Hader previously helmed 18 episodes of the critically acclaimed HBO show Barry, but this will be his first time making a feature and it sounds like he'll be heading to much darker places than the black comedy series.
Set up at MRC and looking to start rolling cameras in the next few months, They Know will star Hader as a divorced dad who becomes evermore suspicious of his ex-wife's new boyfriend and his "strange influence" on their kids. On the surface, this seems like a pretty relatable circumstance, but I'm very excited to see it unfold with escalating horror.
While They Know will be Bill Hader's first effort as a writer/director, fans know that this is certainly not his first time playing around in the genre: he will not be soon forgotten for his scene-stealing role as adult Richie Tozier in 2019's IT: Chapter Two. That blockbuster sequel played up the actor's comic skills (literally featuring him as a stand-up comic), but it also exposed him to plenty of big screen gnarly-ness.
That being said, I'm curious what this movie's approach to tone will be – particularly because Hader is playing the lead role: will it ultimately be looked at as a horror comedy, or is there going to be a more pure focus on scares? Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger have both opted for the latter in their respective films, but they also don't star in their own movies (excluding Cregger's one scene in Barbarian). When more of the cast is announced, it may provide us with a better hint at what to expect.
Should everything go according to plan and They Know completes production by mid-year, the next step would be securing distribution, and if that goes well, I wonder if we could possibly see They Know at some point on the 2027 movie release calendar. Given Hader's proven talent, I'm clearly very optimistic, and I hope there's nothing but smooth sailing from this point forward, as I am super hungry to see his vision.
