Long-Delayed ‘Polaroid’ Could Finally Be Coming to Netflix

Last October, the first trailer for the horror film Polaroid debuted, touting a Thanksgiving release date. The next day, reports were published about Harvey Weinstein featuring numerous accusations of sexual assault and harassment, whose Dimension Films was aiming to release Polaroid. The film was quietly pulled from release, though Netflix may have secured a deal to release the film on its streaming service.

From the producers of The Ring and The Grudge, comes the next iconic horror franchise: Polaroid. High school loner Bird Fitcher has no idea what dark secrets are tied to the Polaroid vintage camera she stumbles upon, but it doesn’t take long to discover that those who have their picture taken meet a tragic end. Based on the award-winning short by Lars Klevberg, the story mixes elements of The Ring and Final Destination to create one of the most unique and scary films.

The film stars Kathryn Prescott (Finding Carter), Mitch Pileggi (The X-Files), Grace Zabriskie (The Grudge), Tyler Young (Eyewitness), Keenan Tracey (Bates Motel), Samantha Logan (The Fosters), Priscilla Quintana (Stranded), Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale), and Javier Botet (Mama, IT).

If the deal goes through, it wouldn’t be the first time that Netflix stepped in to help rescue a film that could have faced financial disappointment.

Earlier this year, the third film in the Cloverfield franchise, The Cloverfield Paradox, debuted a commercial during the Super Bowl which announced that it would be available on Netflix immediately after the game. While this release strategy fit in line with the franchise’s unconventional marketing strategy, review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes calculated that the film only earned 17 percent positive reviews.

Despite the poor critical reception, one exec at Paramount Pictures claimed the experiment was a success.

“The movie was finished, we all reviewed it together with J.J. [Abrams] and his team,” Paramount executive Andrew Gumpert shared with Variety. “We all decided there were things about it that made us have a pause about its commercial playability in the traditional matter.”

Polaroid isn’t the only PG-13 horror movie to have found itself in the middle of controversy that impacts its release, as this summer’s Slender Man also saw a delayed release, seemingly due to its connection to a real-world tragedy.

Inspired by a fictional character created on internet forums, the popularity of Slender Man grew so strongly online that two young girls thought the supernatural being was real. They violently stabbed a classmate to offer as a “sacrifice” to the being, with the victim ultimately recovering.

Immediately after the debut of the first Slender Man trailer, the internet vocalized the film’s disregard for the event in order to cash in on the character’s popularity. Interestingly, Botet starred as the being in that film.

Stay tuned for details about Polaroid.

Are you glad the film might get released or could it have stayed forgotten? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Deadline]