LOS ANGELES (November 9, 2026) – Academy Award nominee Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring franchise) is set to star in and executive produce INFERNO, written and to be directed by Bryan Hill (HBO Max’s “Titans”), with Ara Keshishian (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Kidnap) and Petr Jákl’s (Land of Bad) ZQ Entertainment (upcoming Feed with Rosamund Pike, and Armando Ianucci’s newly announced untitled feature), alongside Adrian Askarieh’s Prime Universe Films (Hitman franchise) all producing. Manifest Pictures are handling international sales and will introduce the film to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market. CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group will co-rep domestic rights.

Based on the long-rumored special division of Britain’s Scotland Yard that investigates the occult, Farmiga will portray a former detective whose pursuit of a killer forces her back into the “Black Branch” and on the trail of the paranormal terror she thought she’d escaped.

INFERNO marks Farmiga’s return to the supernatural horror genre since leading The Conjuring: Last Rites, which grossed half a billion dollars worldwide.

With her iconic portrayal of paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring franchise, alongside leading roles in Orphan, Joshua and Bates Motel, Farmiga has established herself as one of horror’s most bankable stars, with her genre filmography generating more than $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office. Her acclaimed credits also include Martin Scorsese’s The Departed and Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

The film is scheduled to begin production in late spring.

“Great horror films challenge what we believe about the world. With INFERNO, I want to create a terrifying mystery that stays with audiences long after the credits roll. Vera Farmiga is an extraordinary actor whose intelligence, emotional depth, and commanding presence make her the perfect person to lead us into and through that darkness,” said director Bryan Hill.

“INFERNO is a sophisticated supernatural thriller that marries the investigative propulsion of a serial-killer procedural with the visceral terror of possession horror,” said Yvette Zhuang, co-CEO of Manifest Pictures. “We were immediately sucked into Hill’s script, which has unnerving procedural tension of Manhunter and the emotional, performance-driven horror of The Exorcist or Longlegs,” added Zach Glueck, co-CEO of Manifest Pictures. “Hill’s work collaborating with incredible directors from Ryan Coogler to Sam Raimi, and his experience on shows like HBO’s Titans, has prepared him for his role as a multi-hyphenate creator.”

Hill’s first feature, Archangel, is currently in post-production, with Image Nation (Dune, Late Night with the Devil), Roy Lee (Resident Evil, It, Weapons) and Steven Schneider’s Spooky Pictures, and Hill’s Kevlar Creative all producing. His work spans film, television, graphic novels and games. His screenwriting credits include Bitter Root for Proximity and Legendary, The Purgatory Game for Lyrical Media, and Universal’s upcoming Prince biopic, to be produced by Ryan Coogler. His acclaimed comics work includes American Carnage, Chariot, Blade: Evil Against Evil, and Batman and the Outsiders.

Farmiga is repped by CAA, Authentic Talent and Literary Management and Peikoff Mahan Law Office; Hill is repped by UTA, Heroes and Villains Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.

ABOUT ZQ ENTERTAINMENT

Founded by former CAA agent and producer Ara Keshishian in partnership with Petr Jakl, ZQ Entertainment is a premium film and television development financier and production company with a slate of 50 projects in development. The company financed and produced last year’s thriller LOCKED, starring Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins, directed by David Yarovesky and produced alongside Sam Raimi. ZQ also financed the development of and produced the recent Ali G film for Amazon. The company is currently in post-production on CACKLING OF THE DODOS for Netflix, directed by Jason Reitman and starring Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson, and in pre-production on THE LAST BEAR with STUDIOCANAL, based on the international bestselling novel.

ZQ has three films at this year’s American Film Market (AFM). The slate includes two horror titles, INFERNO, starring Vera Farmiga, and FEED, a body horror film starring Rosamund Pike and directed by Leslye Headland. Rounding out the slate is Armando Iannucci’s upcoming feature from FilmNation, starring James McAvoy, Alicia Vikander and Taron Egerton.

ABOUT PRIME UNIVERSE FILMS

Founded in 2006 by producer Adrian Askarieh, Prime Universe Films is a Los Angeles-based independent production company that develops and produces feature films and television, with a focus on adapting video games, graphic novels and bestselling books for the screen. The company produced Hitman and Hitman: Agent 47 for 20th Century Fox, based on IO Interactive’s video game franchise. The two films grossed more than $183 million worldwide. Its current slate includes a Hitman television series at 20th Television, a feature reimagining of T.J. Hooker at Netflix, and The Last Bear, Studiocanal’s feature adaptation of Hannah Gold’s bestselling novel, directed by Bertie Ellwood. Askarieh is also producing Remo Williams at Sony with Oppenheimer producer Charles Roven, based on the bestselling The Destroyer book series. The slate also includes adaptations of the graphic novel Black Cotton Star and the horror video game Tormented Souls.

ABOUT MANIFEST PICTURES

Led by Co-CEOs Yvette Zhuang and Zach Glueck, Manifest Pictures is the dynamic international sales agency backed by renowned production and financing company QC Entertainment (Get Out, BlacKkKlansman). Manifest also shares a strategic partnership with Gramercy Park Media (The Surfer, Sunny, A24’s Famous). Zhuang led global sales and distribution on Miramax’s slate of feature films including The Beekeeper, Oscar winner The Holdovers, and The Gentlemen, and previously held posts at STX and Sierra Affinity. Glueck was co-head of international at WME Independent, and has packaged and sold over 100 independent films including Nuremberg, Book Club and A24’s The Death of Robin Hood. With their strategic partnerships and relationships with third-party producers, financiers, and filmmakers, Manifest will bring to market titles from edgy genre fare to star-driven franchises, and act as a one-stop shop for producers looking to get their films to greenlight. Manifest’s current slate includes the soccer drama Baton, written and starring Danny Ramirez (upcoming Miami Vice ’85, Top Gun: Maverick), who also directs in his feature directorial debut. Executive Produced by David Beckham, the film features a dynamic ensemble cast including Rosario Dawson, Lewis Pullman, Eugenio Derbez, Edgar Ramírez, Gabriel Luna, Maia Reficco, Diego Calva, Camila Mendes, Ester Expósito, Noah Beck and Becky G; James Morosini’s erotic thriller Bulls starring Dylan O’Brien, Lewis Pullman and Kaia Gerber, and produced by powerhouse Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, the production company behind Sony Pictures’ box office sensation Anyone But You; A Body in the Woods, a horror thriller written and directed by Stephen Cognetti, creator of the cult-favorite Hell House franchise, starring Emma Roberts (Scream 4, Nerve, The Blackcoat’s Daughter) and produced by Dave Caplan (The Monkey, Longlegs); and The Weight, starring 5x Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke and Academy Award Winner Russell Crowe, directed by Padraic McKinley in his directorial debut.

PR via Maxine Leonard PR