Shout! Studios Nabs Reboot of Roger Corman’s Cult ‘Deathstalker’

In one of the widest-ranging deals to close in the runup to next week’s 78th Locarno Film Festival, Shout! Studios, a Radial Entertainment company, has acquired exclusive distribution rights in English-language territories to Steven Kostanski’s “Deathstalker,” a reboot of Roger Corman’s cult film series.

“Deathstalker” stars Daniel Bernhardt (“John Wick,” “The Matrix Reloaded”) as the titular hero, playing him more as a grizzled war veteran, as he has commented, than the buff young heroes of the originals. Patton Oswalt (“Young Adult,” “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”) provides the voice of Doodad, a benevolent wizened wizard.

The deal follows on Shout! Studios’ release of Kostanski’s “Frankie Freako” in 2024.
Made in Argentina, producer Corman’s first sword and sorcery “Deathstalker”movie, enjoying a tailwind from “Conan the Barbarian,” was a hit at the U.S. box office. “Deathstalker II” has been hailed as the greatest B-movie ever made.

2025’s “Deathstalker”’s fantasy plot is in line with the originals: the Kingdom of Abraxeon lies under siege by the Dreadites, who are looking to resucitate the long-dead sorcerer Nekromemnon, which would spell Abraxeon’s annihilation. Taking a cursed amulet from a dead Prince on a battlefield, Deathstalker teams with Doodad to rid himself of the medallion as he’s marked by dark magick and hunted by monstrous assassins.

But, as the originals were Corman’s, “Deathstalker” 2025 is as much a movie very much made by Kostanski, whose credits also include “The Void” and “PG: Psycho Goreman.” Certainly not a B-movie, Kostanski’s film takes the sometimes appreciable SFX of the original and ups the ante and fantasy setting in a celebration of practical effects, ranging, just in its early stretches, from a fanged harpy faced drone to a two-headed troll, a stone robot, man-eating snakes and a PigMan, the creature suits, prosthetic…