Horror’s Hottest Director Has Already Wrapped ‘Anything But Ghosts’ With Aaron Paul, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Violet McGraw
Few careers in modern horror have ignited as quickly as Curry Barker’s. The 26-year-old director rose to internet fame alongside creative partner Cooper Tomlinson as the duo behind the YouTube sketch comedy channel “That’s a Bad Idea” before making a move that would change everything.
Two years ago he was making sketches on YouTube. Then came ‘Milk & Serial’, a found footage horror film he shot for $800, posted free on YouTube, and watched cross 2 million views. That led to him signing with UTA in early 2025. From there, Barker directed ‘Obsession’, which premiered at TIFF Midnight Madness, sold to Focus Features for $15 million, and then landed its young writer, director, and editor two major projects in the pipeline at Blumhouse and A24. ‘Obsession’ is currently 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Before audiences have had time to fully absorb ‘Obsession’, Barker has already completed his next feature. ‘Anything But Ghosts’ follows two fake paranormal investigators who must face actual ghosts while dealing with the deception of their own fraudulent business. Aaron Paul, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Violet McGraw joined the cast, with principal photography having begun on March 9, 2026 in Vancouver, Canada and wrapped on April 11, 2026.
The film turned heads in Hollywood when it was first announced, as it marked the first teamup between power horror producers Jason Blum and Roy Lee, who made a bet on Barker as one of the hottest up-and-coming directors in town. Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Spooky Pictures, and Divide/Conquer are producers on the picture, with Focus Features distributing as Barker’s second collaboration with the studio.
McGraw’s casting adds a performer who has become one of genre cinema’s most reliable young names. She first broke through in Flanagan’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ before going on to play Young Yelena in ‘Black Widow’. She is also a lead in the ‘M3GAN’ franchise and appeared most recently in ‘Thunderbolts*’. Paul and Howard bring marquee weight to a project that was already drawing serious industry attention before a single frame had screened.
Barker has spoken openly about how liberating his approach to filmmaking has felt at this stage of his career. In an interview with Variety, he described the experience of making ‘Obsession’ as feeling like a group of kids hoping the adults would not come home, adding that he genuinely felt like they were “getting away with murder.” That unguarded creative energy appears to be exactly what is attracting major talent to everything he touches.
Barker was recently also tapped to direct the next installment of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ for A24, meaning ‘Anything But Ghosts’ is just one chapter in a rapidly accelerating career. With a cast this strong assembled around such a rich premise, this is the film that could cement Barker as horror’s defining new voice, and it would be great to hear whether you think Paul, Howard, and McGraw are the right trio to help him get there.
