AFM: Dark Sky Take ‘American Dollhouse’ for U.S.

Dark Sky Films has acquired U.S. rights to American Dollhouse, the horror thriller from writer-director John Valley, and plans a theatrical release in January 2027. The film had its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year.

Blue Finch Films, which handles international sales, has also closed Canada, selling to Vortex Media. The group will be shopping the title to buyers at the American Film Market in Los Angeles next week.

American Dollhouse follows Sarah, who, after she inherits her childhood home, is stalked by a neighbor whose obsession with her turns violent. Hailley Lauren (My Stretch of Texas Ground) stars alongside Kelsey Pribilski (Man Finds Tape), Tinus Seaux, Danielle Evon Ploeger and Richard C. Jones. David Axe, Samuel Butler, Shane Greb and Roosevelt Film Lab’s Christian Sosa and Jon Wroblewski produced.

“I wanted to create a story that deconstructs the false narratives we tell ourselves about ‘home’ and ‘family,’ all within the context of a blood-soaked genre film,” said Valley in a statement. “Bringing American Dollhouse to audiences with Dark Sky Films is an incredible opportunity to share this nightmare of a ride with horror fans across North America.”

Greg Newman, executive vice president of Dark Sky Films, negotiated the U.S. deal with Blue Finch’s Mike Chapman.

“John Valley is a new voice in horror whose talent and vision immediately caught our attention,” Newman said.

Dark Sky, the genre label of Badie and Hamza Ali’s MPI Media Group, counts such horror classics as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in its library, alongside in-house productions such as Ti West’s The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers, and horror comedies including Ted Geoghegan’s We Are Still Here and Ben Kitnick’s Let’s Start A Cult.