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Imagine you’re a lonely teenager in the summer of 1994 and come across a mysterious personal ad with three words guaranteed to get your attention: “MUST LOVE BLOOD.” Answering it may not be the smartest decision.
That’s the starting point for Bleed the Night, a new vampire horror project acquired by Fox Entertainment Studios from screenwriters Keith Cooper and Zoe Cooper. The spec screenplay is based on a story by Keith Cooper and filmmaker Justin Dyck, who have already ventured into the world of vampires with the upcoming Casket Girls.
In Bleed the Night, the teenager who responds to the ad meets a charismatic young vampire who offers her something she’s been missing: friendship and freedom. What begins as an enticing escape from her lonely existence becomes a bloody crime spree over the course of a single summer night, ultimately forcing the girl to decide just how far she’s willing to go for her first real friend.
According to Deadline, Fox Entertainment Studios has acquired the screenplay, although the film has not yet received an announced production greenlight or release date. According to Deadline, the filmmakers are actively meeting with potential directors and hope to begin filming during the first quarter of 2027.
Mark Ankner is producing through Mountain Top Pictures, whose credits include Ponyboi and Slanted, alongside Adam Goldworm through his Aperture banner. Dyck is serving as executive producer.
From Casket Girls to Bleed the Night
For followers of the current vampire movie resurgence, two of the names behind Bleed the Night should sound familiar. Keith Cooper and Dyck previously teamed on 2020’s Anything for Jackson, with Cooper writing and Dyck directing the well-received supernatural horror film. More recently, they reunited for Casket Girls, the forthcoming vampire thriller starring Gabrielle Union and Mike Colter.
Directed by Dyck, Casket Girls follows Detective Shay Williams (Union) and her partner Galpin (Colter) as an investigation into a child’s supernatural encounter leads them to a centuries-old New Orleans church. There they accidentally unleash the Casket Girls, vampires inspired by one of the city’s enduring supernatural legends. Production on that film has been completed, and Aura Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights. Cooper and Dyck performed revisions on the original screenplay by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant.
Bleed the Night, however, sounds like a very different sort of vampire story. Rather than ancient vampires emerging from beneath a New Orleans church, the new film appears to be aiming for something more intimate: two young people, one night and a friendship that rapidly turns dangerous. Its 1994 setting also places the story before smartphones and social media, when answering a mysterious personal ad could lead somewhere without leaving the digital trail that would accompany it today.
Who Is Writing Bleed the Night?
Co-writer Zoe Cooper brings her own extensive genre background to the project. Her credits include Netflix’s animated vampire series Castlevania, Peacock’s Teacup and work on one of Netflix’s Fear Street films. She also wrote an early draft of Lionsgate’s developing Blair Witch movie and recently rewrote the studio’s adaptation of V.E. Schwab’s fantasy novel The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Keith Cooper, meanwhile, has spent much of his career working in horror and comedy, with Anything for Jacksonbecoming one of his most prominent genre credits.
That makes Bleed the Night particularly interesting for vampire fans. While it’s still early in the development process, Fox isn’t simply acquiring a generic vampire pitch. The project brings together filmmakers with considerable horror experience — and, in the case of Casket Girls and Castlevania, previous experience putting vampires on the screen.
Whether Bleed the Night makes its targeted 2027 production start remains to be seen. No director or cast has been announced. But “MUST LOVE BLOOD” isn’t a bad way to get our attention.