Companion gets a new release date; sci-fi thriller from the Barbarian team is a new kind of love story

UPDATE: Warner Bros. has delayed the release of Companion by three weeks, pushing it back to January 31, 2025, the date they had previously reserved for Mickey 17. That film has now moved to April.

The original article follows:

The sci-fi thriller Companion is coming our way from writer/director Drew Hancock and the team behind the 2022 horror hit Barbarian, but even though over a year has passed since the project assembled its cast and went into production, we still know very little about it. It has managed to stay shrouded in secrecy all this time. Which is a good thing, since it won’t be reaching theatres (including IMAX screens) until January… but now, the shroud is starting to be lifted, starting with the release of a teaser trailer. You can watch it in the embed above. The release date gives Companion a one week head-start on Blumhouse Productions and director Leigh Whannell’s reboot of the classic Universal Monsters property Wolf Man.

In addition to the teaser trailer, there’s an official synopsis that doesn’t give away anything about the characters or what they’re up to: New Line Cinema—the studio that brought you The Notebook—and the unhinged creators of Barbarian cordially invite you to experience a new kind of love story…

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New Line Cinema went all-in on a partnership with Barbarian (watch it HERE) writer/director Zach Cregger and the film’s producers at BoulderLight Pictures. New Line came out the winner in a bidding war over Cregger’s next film, a mysterious horror project called Weapons. They signed a first look deal with BoulderLight Pictures, tasking the company with developing high concept genre projects for them. And they gave the greenlight to Companion, which is being produced by BoulderLight and Cregger.

Hancock wrote the screenplay for Companion, and Cregger was so impressed by it that he considered making the film his directorial follow-up to Barbarian. Instead, Hancock makes his feature directorial debut with Companion while Cregger focuses on Weapons. The cast of Companion includes Jack Quaid (Scream 2022), Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), Lukas Gage (You), Megan Suri (Never Have I Ever), Rupert Friend (Asteroid City), and Sophie Thatcher (The Boogeyman). The Hollywood Reporter was able to dig up the fact that Thatcher’s character is “more than meets the eye”. They’ve also heard that Friend’s character doesn’t live up to the actor’s last name.

Details on the plot are being kept completely under wraps, but The Hollywood Reporter heard that the makers of Companion are describing it as being “self-contained”. Hancock’s previous writing credits include episodes of Supah Ninjas, Blue Mountain State, Fred: The Show, Suburgatory, Faking It, Mr. Pickles, and My Dead Ex (which he co-created), as well as the movie Fred 3: Camp Fred. While he has never directed a movie before, he has directed episodes of Acceptable TV and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as well as a Tenacious D music video.

Cregger is producing Companion with Raphael Margules and J.D. Lifshitz of BoulderLight Pictures, as well as Roy Lee of Vertigo. BoulderLight’s Tracy Rosenblum and Vertigo’s Andrew Childs serve as executive producers.

The Motion Picture Association ratings board has already given Companion an R rating for strong violence, sexual content, and language throughout.

What did you think of the Companion teaser trailer? Are you looking forward to seeing this movie next year? Let us know by leaving a comment below.