I was in a morning press screening when the trailer cut to a chainsaw rev. The room tightened; a nervous laugh punctured the silence. In that pause I realized A24 had just handed a thorny heirloom to a young filmmaker.
I’ve covered horror long enough to sense when a legacy property is about to be handled with care—or curiosity. You should feel wary and intrigued at the same time: this is not a safe, reverent remake, and it isn’t a stunt either. It’s a bet on a voice that hasn’t proven itself in multiplexes yet.
In the lobby at Fantastic Fest, people were still talking about Obsession.
Who is Curry Barker? The short answer: a writer-director whose first major film has the industry whispering. His debut, Obsession, lands in theaters May 15 and has early coverage—most notably io9’s Germain Lussier—painting it as a tightly focused horror about a lovelorn man who makes a magic-tinged wish and then pays for it.
Barker’s approach is not obvious. Obsession is a match in a hayloft: it can illuminate everything around it or burn the whole place down. That polarity is why A24’s pick matters; the studio likes directors who can tilt genre expectations and make audiences uncomfortable in new ways.
You need to know this if you care about tone: Barker writes and directs with an interest in regret and small personal crimes, not just spectacle. That’s different from some modern horror auteurs who trade on shock for clicks; Barker trades on slow, escalating dread.
Who is Curry Barker?
He’s an emerging filmmaker who wrote and shot a film that festivals and a few critics flagged as clever and resonant. You may not have seen his name until now, but insiders who caught early screenings are the reason Variety’s exclusive about his hiring landed so fast.
Variety’s scoop landed in my inbox before breakfast and the headline read like a promise.
A24 reportedly billed Barker’s film as a “reimagining” of Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel’s 1974 original, but insiders say Leatherface and the kids he stalks will be filtered through Barker’s sensibility—and those details are being kept intentionally vague. That secrecy is a production choice: it preserves curiosity, it preserves chatter, and it protects whatever tonal gamble Barker plans to take.
There’s a practical reason A24 made this move. The company has a track record of courting directors who convert cult energy into awards and cultural traction. Barker doesn’t have Hooper’s pedigree, but he does have a distinct voice that A24 can amplify—an arrangement that benefits both sides.
Will this reboot connect to the TV series?
Short answer: unknown. A Chainsaw TV series is still in development from Barnstorm’s Glen Powell and Dan Cohen with JT Mollner directing, and no official bridge has been announced. That doesn’t mean the projects are separate—studios often coordinate tone and marketing behind closed doors—but right now you should treat them as parallel experiments in the same franchise sandbox.
Outside the trades, the franchise still feels like cultural currency that divides audiences.
Leatherface is a legacy figure who carries violent myth and backlash in equal measure. For some viewers the film is sacrosanct; for others it’s a template for rework. Barker’s assignment forces him to answer two questions: how much of the original terror do you preserve, and how much do you make personal to your own fears?
That’s where the casting and script choices will reveal more than posters. If Barker follows his previous instincts, the horror will be sourced in relationships and regret rather than a parade of shocks.
Lines outside theaters and ticket pages were already buzzing when Obsession trailers dropped.
What should you watch next? For starters, Obsession on May 15—see the film that convinced festival commentators to whisper Barker’s name. Also keep an eye on Barker’s next project under the Blumhouse banner, Anything But Ghosts, which he’ll direct, co-write, and star in; Blumhouse is known for low-budget horror that finds big cultural returns.
Industry players to watch: Variety and io9 for scoops, Blumhouse for production patterns, Barnstorm for the TV angle, and Glen Powell and JT Mollner for how the franchise’s tone might split between small- and long-form storytelling.
When will the film release?
There’s no public release date yet for the A24 film. The safest assumption is that A24 will time a rollout to avoid franchise overcrowding and festival preview spoilers; expect more concrete news after Barker finishes his current commitments.
I’ve staked my career on noticing when a filmmaker has the nerve to reshape a franchise rather than repaint its blood. You should be skeptical and excited—the combination that produces the best conversations, arguments, and, yes, box office surprises. Are you ready to bet on Barker’s version of Leatherface, or do you want the original to remain untouchable?