Blumhouse developing film adaptation of Phasmophobia horror video game
Blumhouse Productions is developing a film adaptation of the popular horror video game 'Phasmophobia,' the first-person paranormal puzzle game that gained viral popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will be produced in collaboration with Atomic Monster and Kinetic Games Limited, though no distributor or release date has been announced yet.
Originally released in early access in 2020, 'Phasmophobia' quickly became a social media sensation as Twitch streamers and YouTubers embraced the multiplayer ghost-hunting gameplay. Developed by Kinetic Games Limited, the game was a breakthrough hit for the indie studio, topping Steam's sales charts for several weeks in late 2020. It has since been ported to multiple consoles and sold over 23 million copies worldwide. The game also earned critical acclaim, winning the Best Debut Game award at the 2020 Game Awards.
The film adaptation was revealed at Hollywood's inaugural 'Business of Fear' event, featuring Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum and president Abhijay Prakash as speakers. This project follows Blumhouse's previous video game adaptation, the 2023 film 'Five Nights at Freddy's,' which grossed $291 million globally despite a simultaneous streaming release on Peacock.
A sequel to 'Five Nights at Freddy's' is scheduled for theatrical release on December 5. In addition to producing films, Blumhouse also operates a gaming division, with upcoming titles including 'Eyes of Hellfire' and 'Sleep Awake,' indicating the studio's ongoing investment in the intersection of gaming and horror entertainment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
5 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Zardari launches ‘Benazir Hunarmand Programme'
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari formally launched the Benazir Hunarmand Programme saying every household should be equipped with the tools of learning and education. The president expressed these views while addressing a ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday. He underscored the importance of education and skill development, stating that every household should be equipped with the tools of learning and education. He said that BISP was based on the philosophy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto whose legacy was carried forward by Benazir Bhutto, who believed in inclusive prosperity and education for all. 'We are determined to realise her vision for the uplift of marginalised segments of society,' the president said. First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari was also present at the launch of the programme. Highlighting the importance of the Benazir Hunarmand Programme, President Zardari noted that skills development was crucial not only for national progress but also for preparing a skilled workforce to meet the growing demand in international markets. 'We should equip our youth with modern technical skills needed globally,' he remarked. He particularly stressed the significance of the nursing profession, calling it one of the most sought-after fields internationally, and urged that special priority should be given to training in this area. President Zardari also underlined the importance of learning foreign languages alongside modern skills to enable our youth to get jobs in foreign markets. Referring to his previous tenure, the president recalled that he had launched the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which became a cornerstone of social protection in Pakistan. He expressed gratitude to former Finance Minister Naveed Qamar, acknowledging his valuable role in the launch and implementation of BISP. He said, 'Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) will be improved further and more programmes will be added.' The president said that the Benazir Hunarmand Programme is a continuation of that legacy, aimed at uplifting communities through empowerment and opportunity. He reiterated his resolve to ensure that the youth of Pakistan are provided with the skills, education, and opportunities necessary to build a prosperous country. The president said June 21 was an important day for Pakistan People's Party as it was the birthday of Benazir Bhutto. 'It is also a day of sorrow as we lost Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who guided us with her wisdom and farsightedness,' he added. Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme Senator Rubina Khalid said Benazir Income Support (BISP), since its inception 17 years ago, had become the largest social protection programme. Under the programme, women were declared head of the household and received financial help for their 10 million families, she added. BISP was also in the forefront to disburse timely financial assistance to flood affectees in 2022 and during the COVID pandemic, she noted. She said BISP had always been more than a safety net, it was a commitment to inclusion, dignity and transformation of people especially women. Benazir Hunarmand Programme, while using the database of BISP will create an empowered and self-reliant citizenry, which will be capable of participating productively in economic endeavours, she explained. The programme, she said, would offer practical and demand-driven training in multiple fields enabling critical economic and social change and causing poverty alleviation. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Express Tribune
Italy's immigration and emigration both soaring
The numbers of Italians leaving their country and of foreigners moving in have soared to the highest in a decade, official data showed on Friday, fuelling national concerns about brain drain, economic decline and immigration. Italy has a right-wing government elected in 2022 on a mandate to curb migrant arrivals, but also has a shrinking population and growing labour shortages, highlighting the need to attract foreign workers. Meanwhile the country's stagnant economy and low wages - salaries are below 1990 levels in inflation-adjusted terms - have been blamed for pushing many Italians to seek better fortunes abroad. Last year 382,071 foreigners moved to Italy, up from 378,372 in 2023 and the highest since 2014, statistics agency Istat said. In the same period, 155,732 Italians emigrated, up from 114,057 in 2023 and also the highest since 2014. The immigration figure beat the previous high for the last decade of 301,000 in 2017, and was well above that period's low of 191,766 from 2020 — the height of the Covid pandemic. The figure of almost 270,000 nationals emigrating in the two-year period from 2023 to 2024 was up around 40% compared to the previous two years. The two-year immigration figure for that period, of around 760,000, was up 31% from 2021-2022. The figures are derived from town registry offices, so are unlikely to reflect undocumented migration. Ukrainians made up the biggest national group among those who arrived in 2023-2024, Istat said, followed by Albanians, Bangladeshis, Moroccans, Romanians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Argentines and Tunisians. As for the high number of emigrants, "it is more than plausible" that a significant number were "former immigrants" who moved abroad after acquiring Italian citizenship, Istat said. The agency also said Italy's poorer south was continuing to depopulate, noting that almost 1% of residents in Calabria, the region with the lowest per capita income, moved to central or northern areas during 2023-2024. Reuters
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Policy issues in the EFF programme — III
Covid-19 pandemic, and then the catastrophic floods in 2022, both of which had significant climate change causality – towards which Pakistan has contributed very little in terms of global carbon footprint – and pushed the country to take on considerable amount of loan — on top of its already difficult situation in terms of debt distress before these two events — that has created a meaningful gross financing issue for the country over the last few years, and over a medium term horizon. Multilateral support during both these events has been seriously lacking, including the one-time SDR allocation by IMF to the tune of around USD 2.7 billion in August 2021 – where allocation rather than being based on needs in the exceptional environment of the pandemic, was made as per the usual criteria of quota – was significantly far less than what was needed. Despite repeated calls by development activists internationally, and similar demands made under Barbados's PM Mia Mottley-led 'Bridgetown Initiative', nothing of substance has been done in this regard by the IMF. Table 3b titled 'Pakistan: External Gross Financing Requirements and Sources, 2022/23–2029/30' from May 2025 released 'IMF Country Report No. 25/109' highlights this otherwise much needed provision of IMF SDR allocation to be zero over the medium-term, which is the entire period covered in the table. On the contrary, financing requirements are huge – from FY2025-26 to FY2029-30 they are projected at USD 19.3 billion, USD 19.8 billion, USD 31.4 billion, USD 23.1 billion, and USD 22.2 billion, respectively – even after including very modest levels of current account deficit — for the same fiscal years, being projected at USD 1.5 billion, USD 2.1 billion, USD 3.9 billion, USD 4.7 billion, and USD 5.7 billion, respectively. Policy issues in EFF programme — I Pakistan's exports depend heavily on imported intermediaries, which are not possible to be appropriately make in the wake of lack of meaningful support from IMF in terms of enhanced SDR allocation — on top of releases to the tune of only USD 1 billion from time to time over roughly three-year EFF programme, which began in September 2024, and which are quite insignificant when seen in the context of the huge gross financing requirements — since the quota-based SDR allocation as assistance in the pandemic in August 2021 was low to start with, and since then likely climate change caused floods-related losses have not received much multilateral support, not to mention that the country is among the top-ten most vulnerable countries with regard to climate change crisis, and faces significant gross financing requirements over the medium term. Hence, in the absence of meaningful SDR allocation, and the adoption of otherwise unjustified over-board austerity policy, it is hard to import needed level of intermediaries for exports, which is among the main sustainable sources to achieve macroeconomic stability, to come out of the debt distress, and to move towards higher economic growth. Moreover, a lack of exports would mean lack of capacity to sustainably meet debt obligations, where unlike IMF's assessment in the report that 'Public debt remains sustainable over the medium-term… near-term risks of sovereign stress remain high…' both short-term, and medium-term risks are high, especially due to significant downside risks on account of a very volatile geopolitical situation – the recent Iran-Israel conflict saw a sudden spike in oil prices from around USD 65 per barrel to around USD 75 per barrel — and fast-unfolding climate change crisis — the Finance Minister reportedly indicated a significant role of climate change in reducing in reducing agricultural yield of major crops over the current fiscal year — creating upward pressures on imports payments, along with likely hurting exports, which overall means further increase in external financing gap, and may also result in greater debt distress. Policy issues in the EFF programme – II Instead of realizing the need to provide meaningful support in terms of enhanced SDR allocation — which is a global need being highlighted over the last few years, as indicated above, as a number of developing countries are facing serious debt distress — IMF is dealing with this situation in a routine way, in terms of the usual prescription of country enhancing its productive efficiency, which is in general a rather long-term variable in the presence of non-radical economic reform strategy that the neoliberal, and over-board austerity-based current EFF programme is not allowing. In the meantime, the country is stuck in a low-growth equilibrium. Lack of needed much larger reform scope in the current EFF programme, austerity-based approach not allowing greater investment into the demos to enhance their economic empowerment, and political voice to put greater pressure on public policy for radical, and deeper reforms, and no enhanced allocation of SDRs – not even once over the medium-term, which is the entire time horizon reflected in the programme document – coupled with a highly volatile environment of polycrisis, will likely not allow the country to reach sustainable macroeconomic stability. This in turn, would not allow the country to board an upward moving economic growth trajectory in any sustainable way. In that sense, the current EFF programme is just providing financial support mainly for a few more years to pass in a low-growth environment, which will neither help in creating basis for enhancing the export base for meaningfully dealing with the debt distress, including bringing gross financing needs to a sustainable level, nor will allow build-up of economic growth, and resilience to lower the otherwise fast-increasing poverty levels – where close to half of the population is below poverty line as per recently released World Bank figures – and to be better prepared for climate change crisis, and related 'Pandemicene' phenomenon; where Pakistan is among the top-ten climate change crisis affected countries. (Concluded) Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
