Neon acquires Finn Wolfhard's horror-comedy Hell of a Summer, coming in 2025

As we enjoy the back half of the year, I can't help but get excited for horror releases coming in 2025. From returning franchises such as Saw and I Know What You Did Last Summer to anticipated adaptations like The Monkey, next year will surely rival this year in terms of the horror genre. And one release we just got an exciting update on is Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard's feature-length directorial debut, Hell of a Summer. Wolfhard co-wrote and co-directed the film with Billy Bryk.

Though Hell of a Summer was filmed in 2022 and made its premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, it had yet to score a distributor until now. As reported by Deadline today, hot studio Neon has acquired the U.S. rights to the movie, which is a horror-comedy. The production and distribution company shared the news on social media, posting a still from Hell of a Summer and confirming it will be released in 2025:

Wolfhard and Bryk also star in Hell of a Summer, alongside The White Lotus' Fred Hechinger, Knock at the Cabin's Abby Quinn, Reservation Dogs' D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, and others. As reported by Deadline, the movie "follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Hechinger), who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest problem is that he feels out of touch with his teenage co-workers. What he doesn’t know is that a masked killer is lurking on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one."

Early reviews for the film have been mixed, with some loving the nostalgic '80s slasher feel and others calling out a lack of originality.

Neon has been an emerging force in the film distribution space for years now and has solidified itself as a company to keep an eye on. Not only do they have Academy Award winners Parasite and Anatomy of a Fall under their belt, but they've also distributed an impressive list of great horror movies, such as Infinity Pool, Crimes of the Future, and more recently Longlegs. At this point, if Neon is behind a title, I'm more than likely checking it out.

As for Wolfhard, he'll also be gearing up for the release of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, which will be making its highly-anticipated return to Netflix after three years in 2025. Though fans had hoped the fifth season would be released in 2024, unforeseen issues such as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes delayed production. There's no doubt that Stranger Things 5 will be the big show of 2025.

It's a great sign that Hell of a Summer has been picked up by Neon. I'm looking forward to watching it!