Johnny, the bloodthirsty killer of “In a Violent Nature,” is headed back to the woods.
IFC Films and Shudder announced that a sequel for the innovative slasher is in the early stages of development. The news came during the “The Bold Voice of Contemporary Horror” panel at San Diego Comic-Con, where Johnny himself stopped by to freak out the audience.
“In a Violent Nature” largely follows the chaos caused by Johnny, a riff on slasher icons like Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” series. The camera stays with the killer, traipsing with him through the woods as he searches for his next victims.
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“In a Violent Nature” was released theatrically in May and is one of IFC Films’ 10 highest-grossing films of all time. It’s currently still in theaters and on VOD, but will start streaming on Shudder on Friday, Sept. 13. “Nature” is currently sitting at the top of PvNew‘s list of the best horror movies of 2024 so far.
Sequel producers include Peter Kuplowsky and Shannon Hanmer, and the first film’s writer and director, Chris Nash, will return as screenwriter. Emily Gotto, Nicholas Lazo and Samuel Zimmerman are overseeing development for Shudder.
“‘In a Violent Nature’ demonstrated that there continues to be a yearning for new perspectives in the horror landscape. We knew immediately that this distinctive take on the slasher would enthrall fans and are glad to see the community embrace a new slasher icon in Johnny,” head of AMC Networks’ film group Scott Shooman said in a statement. “With the sequel, we aim to prove that Johnny can be bigger, meaner, and his kills can only get more impressive.”
“‘In a Violent Nature’ was originally conceived as a meta-sequel within a fictional slasher series, so we were always imagining mayhem beyond the scope of the original film,” Kuplowsky also said in a statement. “That we now have the opportunity to continue following Johnny on his restless walk has us feeling incredibly grateful to our incredible partners at IFC Films / Shudder who believed in Chris’ vision from day one. We are thrilled to return for a new chapter and are excited to deploy Johnny as a conduit to further experiments in the genre.”
Check out the teaser poster below.
