RLJE Films & Shudder Acquire Eli Craig's CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD

Courtesy RLJE Films & Shudder

RLJE Films and Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, announced today that they have snagged the U.S. rights to Eli Craig’s (Tucker & Dave Vs. Evil, Little Evil) CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD, based on the Bram Stoker Award-winning horror novel by Adam Cesare.

From Temple Hill Entertainment, the production team behind smash hit Smile, the film stars Katie Douglas ("Ginny & Georgia"), Carson MacCormac (Shazam!), Aaron Abrams ("Hannibal"), Will Sasso (The Three Stooges), and Kevin Durand (Abigail).

Adapted to a screenplay by Carter Blanchard and Craig, CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD follows Quinn (Douglas) and her father (Abrams), who have just moved to the quiet town of Kettle Springs hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she discovers a fractured community that has fallen on hard times after the treasured Baypen Corn Syrup Factory burned down.

As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning figure emerges from the cornfields to cleanse the town of its burdens, one bloody victim at a time. Welcome to Kettle Springs. The real fun starts when Frendo the clown comes out to play.

“Adam Cesare’s ‘Clown’ series has been on my radar for some time now, and we are pumped to bring Eli Craig’s harrowing, savage, heart-pounding adaptation to the big screen in 2025,” said RLJE Films' Chief Acquisition Officer Mark Ward.

Said Director Eli Craig, "I’m thrilled to partner with RLJE Films and Shudder to release this insanely fun action, horror, comedy where we always wanted it to be seen — in theaters! As always in my movies, there’s a deeper theme about the collision of perspectives and ideals that leads to utter mayhem. It was fun in this one, however, to let the horror thrills take the lead, while the comedic absurdity that I can’t help but see in life brings a bit of levity."

HarperCollins published Cesare’s novel ‘Clown in Cornfield’ in 2020, followed by the second book in the franchise, ‘Clown in a Cornfield II: Frendo Lives’ in 2022. ‘Clown in a Cornfield III: The Church of Frendo,’ had its debut in August 2024 and has since become a USA Today Bestseller.

CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD is produced by Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, and John Fischer for Temple Hill and Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis and Terry Dougas for Rhea Films, and executive produced by Jean-Luc De Fanti, Max Work and Kostas Tsoukalas for Rhea Films, Petersen Harris and George Berman for Temple Hill, Dave Bishop and George Hamilton for Protagonist Pictures, Daniel Bekerman for Scythia Films Inc., Myron John Tataryn for Thundersnow Pictures, and Carter Blanchard. The film is a Rhea Films Production as well as a Temple Hill Production and was financed by Hercules Film Fund.

The deal was negotiated by Mark Ward on behalf of RLJE Films and Shudder and Hal Sadoff and Lina Marrone on behalf of the filmmakers. International rights are being handled by Protagonist Pictures.

RLJE Films will release the CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD theatrically on May 9, 2025.