Kevin Bacon is officially Amazon’s undisputed go-to guy for dealing with the supernatural. After starring in Prime Video’s “I Love Dick” and “The Bondsman,” Bacon is expanding his partnership with Amazon MGM Studios to lead the upcoming horror Summoner.
Bacon is no stranger to things that go bump in the night. His resume includes everything from the original Friday the 13th and Tremors to Stir of Echoes and MaXXXine. But in Summoner, he’ll be coming out swinging once again. Literally.
Witness Protection Meets Possession
Throughout his career, Kevin Bacon has seamlessly rotated among vulnerable victim, heroic survivor, and terrifying villain. This time, he’s playing the ultimate supernatural fixer: Jefferson Haddock. He’s an aging exorcist called out to an isolated safe house currently being used for witness protection.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Haddock is tasked with evicting a terrifying demon that has trapped itself inside the property. The twist? While trying to cast the entity out, he accidentally breaks the metaphysical seal on something much worse—unleashing a destructive cosmic force that threatens to obliterate him, the witnesses, and the surrounding zip code.
The Creative Brain Trust
Summoner marks the feature directorial debut of Jeremy Slater, who also penned the script. If you’ve watched anything cool on a screen recently, Slater probably wrote it. He co-created Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” and served as head writer for Marvel’s “Moon Knight.” Slater also wrote blockbusters like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Mortal Kombat II. He also ran Fox’s “The Exorcist” series, meaning he already knows exactly how to make a demonic possession look absolutely terrifying.
Slater will start rolling cameras this fall, backed by a powerhouse roster of genre royalty. Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (the masterminds behind IT and “Welcome to Derry”) are producing under their Nocturna banner alongside Russell Ackerman. Dan Kagan, a producer behind the indie horror phenomenon Longlegs, is on board to keep the vibes appropriately eerie.
Filling the Void
While Summoner is being developed specifically as a theatrical release for Amazon MGM Studios, it will almost certainly land on Prime Video down the road. For fans, it’s the perfect spiritual band-aid to soothe the sting of The Bondsman’s unexpected cancellation. Hub Halloran’s quest to hunt down escaped spirits may have been cut short, but Jefferson Haddock’s date with the devil is just getting started.
