Barunson E&A, the Korean studio behind Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning Parasite, has boarded worldwide sales on Satan’s Slaves: Origin, the latest addition to the blockbuster horror franchise directed by Indonesian filmmaker Joko Anwar.
The company will launch the project, which it is billing as “one of the most ambitious genre productions to come out of Southeast Asia”, to international buyers at the inaugural TIFF Market this September.
Written and directed by Anwar, Satan’s Slaves: Origin is produced by Rapi Films, in co-production with Anwar’s Come and See Pictures, Sky Media and Legacy Pictures.
The film is currently in pre-production and targeting a 2027 theatrical release in Indonesia.
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It marks Anwar’s most ambitious production to date, unfolding across two continents and told in seven languages including Indonesian, Alsatian, Portuguese, Javanese, Dutch, Turkish and Latin.
Anwar’s reboot of Rapi Films’ 1980 Indonesian cult classic of the same name started in 2017 with Satan’s Slaves, which became Indonesia’s highest-grossing local film of the year and kickstarted the country’s horror boom. Its sequel, Satan’s Slaves: Communion, became the first Indonesian feature released in IMAX and ranks among the top six highest-grossing local films of all time in Indonesia.
The third installment in the franchise, Satan’s Slaves: Origin, is built as a standalone prequel, tracing the origins of the cult and demonic pact that set the first two films in motion.
It begins with a mysterious mass hysteria gripping 16th-century Strasbourg – inspired by a real-life incident in 1518 – before arriving at a haunted lighthouse on the southern coast of 17th-century Java, expanding the mythology beyond anything the franchise has attempted before.
Anwar also recently directed horror comedy Ghost In The Cell, which premiered at Berlin film festival and is currently the second highest-grossing film of the year at Indonesia’s box office with more than 3.3 million admissions. The film, which is also part of Anwar and Barunson E&A’s two-year exclusive partnership, has been sold to 150 territories worldwide, including Plaion for German rights and Well Go USA for North America.
Commenting on Satan’s Slaves: Origins, Anwar said: “This film is everything I didn’t know I was building toward – the one that finally answers where the curse came from, why it never stopped, and what it’s really after. Longtime fans are going to get the answers they’ve waited years for. Newcomers are going to get the ride of their lives.”
Yoonhee Choi, CEO of Barunson E&A, said: “Every time we work with Joko Anwar, the scale gets bigger and the ambition gets sharper. Satan’s Slaves: Origin is unlike anything he’s made – a story that moves across centuries and continents. It’s proof of what we’ve believed for years: Indonesian filmmakers are telling some of the boldest genre stories in the world right now, and we’re proud to help this one reach it.”
Barunson E&A’s pan-Asian slate also includes Thai horror Inherit from Banjong Pisanthanakun, produced by Thailand’s GDH 559 and selected for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival; Indonesian zombie-apocalypse blockbuster Zona Merah: Dead City; and Korean occult mystery Stoneborn, from the team behind Exhuma.
