Night Market Studios Brings Asian Horror to Cannes—With 'The Conjuring' Writers in Tow

TL;DR: Third Culture Content just launched Night Market Studios, a Singapore-based production label anchored by "The Conjuring" writers Chad and Carey Hayes as executive producers. Four debut films hit Cannes in May 2026, drawing on Bhutanese, Indonesian, Filipino, and Balinese mythology. No streaming deals announced yet, but the combination of awards-credentialed directors and Western horror infrastructure makes this one to track for Indian OTT platforms.

Here's the thing that matters: it's not the announcement itself. It's who they got to show up.

Third Culture Content unveiled Night Market Studios on May 13, 2026, at the Cannes Film Market. The company is wholly owned by co-founders Janice Chua (former VP of international at Imagine Entertainment, producer on "Crazy Rich Asians") and Sean Dulake (Netflix's "Dramaworld"). What gives the label actual weight isn't the press release — it's that Chad and Carey Hayes, the writers behind a franchise that grossed $624 million worldwide, signed on as executive producers.

That's not decorative. The Hayes brothers don't attach themselves to every slate that claims to love Asian storytelling. They work inside a specific architecture: horror rooted in documented mythology, driven by family stakes, built for franchise extension. That's precisely what Night Market's debut slate is structured around.

The Four Films: What Night Market Actually Has

Night Market isn't a pure horror label. It's a genre shop — horror, thriller, action-comedy — all anchored in regional storytelling with international distribution ambitions baked in from day one.

"The Damned" Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji (Oscar-nominated for "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom") Writers: Michael Tay, Karl Gan The pitch: An expectant father in desperation agrees to serve as a human vessel in a forbidden Taoist ritual. What he unleashes from the underworld doesn't stay contained. This is the Hayes brothers' primary project on the slate — the one where their horror architecture does the heavy lifting.

"Coverband Heist" Director: Angga Dwimas Sasongko ("Stealing Raden Saleh," "Jumbo") Setting: Jakarta What it is: Five musicians attempt a heist during an exclusive hotel event. Sasongko's studio, Visinema Pictures, is the producing partner. His last film, "Jumbo," grossed over $30 million at the Indonesian domestic box office, meaning he's not just critically credentialed. He moves tickets.

"Imprint" Director: Marie Jamora ("What Isn't There") Writer: Charlene Sawit-Esguerra Stars: Liza Soberano (attached as executive producer) The story: A Filipino-American woman returns to the Philippines after her father's murder and discovers a psychic ability that lets her hunt a serial killer operating between the physical and spirit worlds. Soberano's profile is about to climb sharply — DreamWorks' "Forgotten Island" hits theaters soon, which means she's moving into the mainstream.

"The Curse of Bali" Producing partner: BH Entertainment Genre: Romantic horror-comedy Plot: Three couples celebrating an engagement antagonize an actual Balinese superstition said to doom relationships. Director not yet announced.

Why the Hayes Brothers Actually Matter Here

I keep circling back to this because most trade coverage treats it as a credit grab. It's not.

Chad and Carey Hayes wrote "The Conjuring" (2013) and "The Conjuring 2" (2016). Those films didn't just make money — they demonstrated that audiences would pay for horror grounded in real mythology and emotional family dynamics. Remember the clap-hide-and-seek scene in the original "Conjuring," where the camera holds on Lili Taylor's face for what feels like forty seconds while something moves behind her? That's pure architecture. No jump-scare cheat, no CGI crutch. Their other credits ("The Reaping," "The Crucifixion," "The Turning," the "House of Wax" remake) show a consistent pattern: contained spaces, mythology-driven architecture, franchise-ready IP.

That's the toolkit "The Damned" needs. A Taoist ritual isn't just a plot device — it's the story's entire structural spine, same way Catholicism holds "The Conjuring" together. The Hayes brothers know how to make audiences believe in the mythology while staying emotionally anchored to a family's collapse. Not a generic skill.

Most coverage frames Night Market as a fresh play on Asian horror for Western audiences, but the more interesting question is whether this label can do what nobody else has managed: build original Asian horror IP that doesn't require a Hollywood remake to travel. "The Ring" (2002) and "The Grudge" (2004) opened Western audiences to Asian-sourced horror, sure, but only after being fully rebuilt with English-language casts and American settings. "Parasite" won Best Picture in 2020 without that filter. Night Market is betting the post-"Parasite" window is still open for original IP from these regions, and that audiences won't need the safety net of a remake anymore. That's a real bet, not a safe one.

The Regional Box Office Already Proved This Works

Sasongko's "Stealing Raden Saleh" was Indonesia's highest-grossing domestic film in 2022. "Jumbo," which premiered in 2025, cleared $30 million domestically. That's not genre-film territory — that's mainstream blockbuster money. It means Indonesian audiences will actually show up for locally grounded stories, and that regional success tends to unlock international distribution.

Pawo Choyning Dorji's "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom" made Bhutan's first-ever Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film in 2022 (94th Academy Awards). To put that in perspective: Bhutan submits roughly one film per cycle, and Dorji's debut pulled 93% on Rotten Tomatoes from 89 reviews, outscoring every Marvel release that same awards season. That's awards-circuit credibility without Hollywood infrastructure — exactly what opens doors with U.S. distributors and prestige streamers.

Hard to say right now which of the four films will land first, or which platforms will bid. But Movie OTT's streaming tracker will catch the distribution announcements as they drop — typically six to twelve months after a Cannes market debut like this one.

What This Means for Indian Audiences

Two of the four titles have direct cultural adjacency for Indian viewers.

"The Damned" centers on Taoist ritual and the spirit world. If you've seen "Stree" (2018) or "Tumbbad" (2018), you recognize the template: Indian horror-adjacent cinema has spent years building films around supernatural frameworks grounded in regional mythology. The structure of a protagonist crossing between spiritual and physical planes is practically familiar ground.

"Imprint" follows a Filipino-American woman hunting a serial killer who exists between worlds. Liza Soberano is about to have much higher visibility — "Forgotten Island" from DreamWorks rolls out to theatrical, which means her profile climbs with Indian multiplex and OTT audiences heading into her projects' release windows.

Streaming distribution in India likely breaks down like this:

Netflix India — most probable for prestige Asian genre content with Western co-production backing
Prime Video India — aggressive on Southeast Asian acquisitions since 2023; "Coverband Heist" fits their slate
Disney+ Hotstar — possible if "The Damned" moves through festival circuits and builds awards momentum
JioCinema and SonyLIV — secondary rights players more likely than primary homes

No Indian release windows announced. Check Movie OTT for platform availability updates as distribution closes.

The Real Pressure Point: Closing the Money

Night Market's got real talent attached. The Hayes brothers give it Western distribution credibility. Dorji, Sasongko, and Jamora are award-circuit names. Visinema and BH Entertainment bring regional producing infrastructure.

But here's what nobody covers in trade press: closing financing and keeping the filmmakers aligned is where most emerging genre labels stall. Announcement momentum dissipates fast. A Cannes market debut doesn't guarantee deals close.

Watch for these signals over the next six months:

Distribution announcements from Netflix, A24, or other major streamers (A24 would be the logical fit for "The Damned" given their horror-festival strategy)
Casting news for "The Curse of Bali" — a directorless film is a financing red flag
Awards positioning for Dorji's project — if it plays Toronto or Venice, financing is likely locked

If any of the four films drops a trailer before year-end 2026, that signals at least one title cleared full financing. The American Film Market in November 2026 will be the checkpoint if Cannes doesn't produce distribution deals.

What Actually Happens Next

The slate is announced. The talent is attached. Now comes the part trade coverage ignores — closing the money.

Third Culture Content has the infrastructure to execute this. Los Angeles, Singapore, Seoul offices. A producer with "Crazy Rich Asians" credits. A co-founder with Netflix international experience. The Hayes brothers' involvement opens doors with U.S. distributors that indie production companies can't kick open alone.

For audiences in India tracking where these films land, Movie OTT maintains cross-platform streaming availability across Netflix India, Prime Video, Hotstar, and regional OTT services — check there as distribution gets confirmed. These films are probably six to twelve months away from platform announcements, but the infrastructure to get them there is real.