The pop-singer horror craze isn’t done singing yet.
Deadline reports that Leah McKendrick (pictured above in M.F.A.) is set to write, direct, and star in Delulu alongside Maddie Ziegler (Pretty Lethal) for XYZ Films and Temple Hill.
McKendrick “will play a washed-up millennial pop singer who kidnaps a rising Gen Z influencer (Ziegler) and makes one deranged demand: get her a million followers in two weeks or die.”
I’m reminded of someone who once said, “I don’t need friends. I need fans”.
Scream IV predicted a world driven mad by social media. All these years later, and we still haven’t changed. If anything, it’s only gotten worse. Hence, movies like Delulu.
The outlet notes that the film has been described as a “bloody showdown about fame, envy and the strange intimacy of girlhood”. Music to our ears.
Said McKendrick, “I have been a die-hard fan of Maddie since she was a little girl dancing her heart out on our TV screens – and I’m beyond blown away by the multifaceted artist she has grown into. I’m fired up to watch her devour a role that demands every color of her insane talent. Temple Hill and XYZ are fearlessly championing my vision to make my rawest, bloodiest, most ferociously female film yet.”
Speaking of music to our ears, McKendrick’s words have me wanting to grab a microphone and shout “hell yeah”. While I’m a little wary of the pop star horror craze that has seen a mixed bag between films like Smile 2 (good) and Mother Mary (not so good), Delulu sounds like it could be a banger.
McKendrick isn’t exactly known for directing horror, having gotten behind the camera for Scrambled and Voicemails for Isabelle. She has, however, appeared in pics like the recent I Know What You Did Last Summer and M.F.A.
Producers are Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner and Laura Quicksilver for Temple Hill, as well as Guy Danella for XYZ. Hal Sadoff and McKendrick will executive produce.
XYZ Films is financing Delulu and is set to launch sales at AFM this week.
Delulu will begin production sometime in 2027.
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