David Howard Thornton is known for playing some horrifying monsters. Whether it be Art the Clown in Terrifier or The Grinch in Mean One, the actor’s demented range is something to behold. Now Thornton is taking on another beloved children’s character, Mickey Mouse, in a slasher tale on Steamboat Willie, Screamboat. The film was set to release theatrically at the end of the month, but it’s now been announced that Screamboat‘s release date has been pushed back to the spring.

However, fear not horror fans, we just got a hellish new look at Thornton in costume.

Revealed exclusively by Variety, the image is as close as you can get to a murderous Mickey Mouse without Disney breaking out the lawyers. Thornton is playing a humanoid mouse in this version, wearing beat-up overalls and a hat seen in Steamboat Willie. His colors are muted as well to emulate the black and white look of the original cartoon. Willie also appears to be wielding a sail post as a spear. However, the most frightening thing about this image is the face. The facial expressions and the realistic features are simply nightmare-inducing.

When talking about the project, director Steven LaMorte said, “I’m so excited to share our mischievous monster mouse with the world. Screamboat is my way of paying homage to Disney while putting a sinister, yet comedic twist on the classic.” His enthusiasm then switched to his main actor, “Watching David Howard Thornton bring Steamboat Willie to life with the magicians at Quantum Creation FX has been nothing short of amazing — he’s hilarious and murderously entertaining. I can’t wait for audiences to meet Willie and experience the chaos we’ve created.” LaMorte also directed Thornton in Mean One.

What Is ‘Screamboat’ About?

“Screamboat follows a group of New Yorkers on a late-night ferry ride that turns deadly when a mischievous mouse begins a rampage, targeting unsuspecting passengers. The unlikely crew must band together to thwart the murderous menace before their relaxing commute turns into a nightmare.” Since the first version of Mickey Mouse found in Steamboat Willie fell into the public domain last year, there have been a handful of Mickey-related horror projects in various stages of development. One of which was the 2024 slasher The Mouse Trap. That film currently holds an abysmal 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. Public domain horror has been on the rise with characters like Winnie-The-Pooh, Cinderella and Peter Pan all getting multiple slashers of their own. Many have been at the bottom of the genre barrel, but hopefully Screamboat will be more on the quality side. An example of the latter was Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey II.

When Does ‘Screamboat’ Release?

Screamboat currently has a release window of April 2025 with pre-screening events happening across the U.S. before its official debut. This mouse-tastic slasher is being released by Iconic Events. Alongside Thronton, Screamboat stars Allison Pittel, Tyler Posey, Amy Schumacher, Jesse Posey and Kailey Hyman. The film will also feature cameos from Brain Quinn (Impractical Jokers) and comedian Joe DeRosa

via Collider