Violet’s been busy. The “M3GAN 2.0” lead has signed on to Curry Barker’s next horror feature “Anything But Ghosts,” Deadline reported Thursday afternoon, and the film has already wrapped principal photography in Vancouver.
She joins a cast that already includes Aaron Paul, Bryce Dallas Howard, Barker himself, and his longtime creative partner Cooper Tomlinson. Howard’s involvement was confirmed only the day before. The pace of these announcements, dropping while the picture is already in post, says something about how Focus Features is positioning Barker.
This is the studio’s second deal with him in roughly seven months. Focus Features picked up Barker’s “Obsession” out of TIFF Midnight Madness last September for north of $10 million, and that movie hits theaters May 15. It’s currently sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes after a SXSW play.
Plot details on “Anything But Ghosts” remain locked down, though the logline that surfaced when production was first announced points to a film about two fake paranormal investigators forced to deal with an actual haunting once their fraud catches up with them. Barker directed and co-wrote with Tomlinson.
For Violet, this lands her right back in Jason Blum’s orbit, which feels less like a coincidence and more like a pattern. Blum is producing “Anything But Ghosts” through Blumhouse, alongside Roy Lee and Steven Schneider for Spooky Pictures, and Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath for Divide/Conquer. Image Nation and Barker and Tomlinson’s outfit, That’s a Bad Idea, round out the production roster.
Worth pausing on Barker, since he’s the new variable here. Two years ago he was making sketches on YouTube. Then came “Milk & Serial,” a found-footage horror he shot for $800, posted free on YouTube, and watched cross 2 million views. Variety named it one of the best horror films of 2024. UTA signed him in early 2025. By September he had Blum and Lee, the producer behind last year’s Zach Cregger smash “Weapons,” teaming up for the first time on his next picture.
Focus Features has not set a release date for “Anything But Ghosts” yet. “Obsession,” starring Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette, opens nationwide on May 15.
