Craig Zobel to Direct Blumhouse’s Something Is Killing the Children

Craig Zobel is set to direct a live-action feature adaptation of the horror comic Something Is Killing the Children for Blumhouse, with Jason Blum among the producers. The attachment was announced Oct. 9 out of New York Comic-Con’s Blumfest, Deadline reported. TheWrap confirmed the same NYCC reveal and producer lineup later the same afternoon.

Created by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera and first published by BOOM! Studios in 2019, the series follows monster hunter Erica Slaughter as she arrives in Archer’s Peak after children begin disappearing. Deadline called it the most successful original horror comic since The Walking Dead, citing more than 5 million copies sold worldwide and translations into more than 20 languages across 14 countries. TheWrap added that the spinoff House of Slaughter launched with more than 500,000 copies of its first issue and that the franchise has won multiple Eisner Awards.

Producer credits reported by both outlets list Stephen Christy and Tynion IV for BOOM! Studios/Penguin Random House alongside Blum for Blumhouse. Shaun Sutton and Ryan Turek executive produce with Adam Yoelin and Mette Norkjaer; Dell’Edera is a co-producer. While the feature moves forward, Blumhouse is also developing an adult animated series version shepherded by Tynion IV, Deadline and TheWrap both said — a dual-track plan that has been part of the rights strategy since Blumhouse acquired the property.

Zobel’s résumé, as outlined by Deadline, spans indie breakouts Compliance and Z for Zachariah, prestige TV including The Leftovers, Mare of Easttown and The Penguin, and the satirical horror film The Hunt. He is a DGA Award nominee and three-time Emmy nominee, and Deadline noted he just wrapped Turpentine with Melissa McCarthy and Connie Storrie. TheWrap echoed the TV and The Hunt credits and the same representation slate.

No cast, start date or release window for the live-action film was announced with the director news. Deadline placed the reveal alongside Blumhouse’s broader 2027 slate talk at NYCC, which also includes titles such as Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist: Martyrs, a new Paranormal Activity and Drew Hancock’s Seasons. The weekend box office context cited by Deadline included Blumhouse–Atomic Monster’s Other Mommy.

For comic readers, the adaptation peg is less a soft option and more a late-stage greenlight signal: a completed screenplay has been discussed in earlier trade coverage, and attaching Zobel — known for tense, character-driven suspense — puts a prestige-TV horror hand on a property defined by graphic monster violence in print. Both Deadline and TheWrap stressed that the animated series remains in parallel development rather than a replacement for the feature.

Trade coverage treated the NYCC reveal as a casting-of-director milestone rather than a finished greenlight package. Deadline noted Blumhouse’s habit of stacking Comic-Con announcements across features and franchise extensions; TheWrap stressed that the live-action and animated tracks are meant to reinforce each other, with Tynion IV staying close to both. Until casting and a start date land, the story for general readers is simpler: a top-selling horror comic now has a prestige-TV thriller director and a Blumhouse producing bench attached in public.

Find more film and TV headlines on our Hollywood page.

Verification: Zobel directing attachment, Blumhouse/BOOM! producer credits, comic sales/translation figures, Erica Slaughter premise and dual animated-series track come from Deadline (Matt Grobar, Oct. 9, 2026). Eisner/House of Slaughter sales note, NYCC Blumfest framing and matching producer list are from TheWrap (Umberto Gonzalez, Oct. 9, 2026).