Brace yourself, Bruce (the iconic shark from Jaws), there’s a new apex predator in town, and it has a significantly higher BMI and an even worse attitude. The first trailer and poster for Hungry have officially surfaced, serving as a visceral reminder that the “Big Easy” is about to get a whole lot bloodier.
We have more good news to share, thanks to the attention from fine horror fiends. The theatrical date is now moving up to June 1!
This Isn’t Your Childhood Board Game
Despite the title, this is definitely not a whimsical, live-action adaptation of the Hasbro game we all played as kids. There are no plastic marbles here—only tragedy.
The story follows a group of thrill-seeking tourists on a riverboat tour through the Louisiana swamplands. Lured by the promise of an “exclusive adventure”—which, in horror movie speak, translates directly to “everyone is going to die”—the group ends up off the map and very much on the menu. They soon find themselves being hunted by a creature Hollywood has criminally overlooked until now: the Hippo.
The Creative Muscle
Director James Nunn (One Shot trilogy) is at the helm, and he’s brought along some serious talent to get chewed on. The cast fighting (and likely failing) to survive includes Madison Davenport (Sharp Objects), Joaquim de Almeida (Road House), and Tracey Bonner (The Exorcism).
If the kills look sickeningly realistic, you can thank Dan Martin. He’s the prosthetic wizard behind Infinity Pool and Possessor, two films famous for making audiences collectively reach for their barf bags. If Nunn provides the vision, Martin provides the viscera.
Why Hippos? (The Murder Potato Facts)
The movie is titled Hungry, which is a bit of a creative liberty considering hippos are technically vegetarians. However, while they will eat your salad, they will absolutely delete your existence. Here is why you should be terrified of the “Murder Potato”:
Statistically, hippos are the deadliest large land mammals in Africa, killing more people annually than lions or elephants combined. They are fiercely territorial. While they don’t want to eat you, they do want you to stop breathing in their general vicinity.
Did you know that a hippo’s bite force is roughly a bone-crushing 1,800 PSI? To put that in perspective, they can snap a crocodile in half like a dry twig. So, you know you wouldn’t have a chance. And god forbid you got sat on by one, you’d be flat. The enormous killers weigh between 1,200 and 3,800 lbs. That’s the size of a car.
Now, don’t let the roundness fool you. They look like bloated water-pigs, but they can outrun a human on land, no problem. While they look soft and squishy, that “blubber” is actually dense, powerful muscle. That urge you feel to “boop the snoot”? Don’t. Unless you want your funeral to be a closed-casket affair featuring whatever bits they can scrape off the grass.
A New Fear Unlocked
As EVP Ella Field puts it, a “very real fear will be unlocked.” We’ve spent decades being afraid of sharks and gators, but it’s about time we respected the four-ton tank with tusks and a mouth that could swallow a beach ball whole.
In other words: Don’t mess with hippos, or you’re going to find yourself in a world-class “Fuck Around and Find Out” situation.
Witness the bloody, brutal fight for survival when Hungry hits theaters on June 1, 2026.
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