Focus Features will release Anything But Ghosts in theaters on May 7, 2027. Focus holds worldwide rights to the film, with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution.
Barker directs and co-wrote the screenplay with longtime collaborator Cooper Tomlinson. The pair also lead the cast, joined by Violet McGraw, Chris Reinacher, Bryce Dallas Howard and Aaron Paul.
The scam works perfectly until the ghosts show up
Focus describes the protagonists as fame-seeking wannabe ghost hunters who suddenly find themselves badly out of their depth. Earlier comments from Barker fill in the joke behind that setup: the pair are con artists who know how to manufacture a convincing haunting for unsuspecting clients.
They can make furniture move, manipulate lights and deploy equipment that turns a fraudulent paranormal investigation into a convincing performance. That business model encounters a fairly obvious design flaw when they run into an actual supernatural entity.
Barker has described Anything But Ghosts as leaning considerably further into comedy than Obsession while still remaining scary and grounded. The premise gives him a convenient mechanism for both. The protagonists are funny because they are performers pretending to understand ghosts; the horror begins when the performance stops being under their control.
Barker and Tomlinson put their partnership back at the center
The film also brings Barker's creative partnership with Tomlinson into the foreground. The two built the That's a Bad Idea comedy channel together and later collaborated on independent projects including Milk & Serial. Tomlinson also appeared in Barker's Obsession.
Anything But Ghosts turns that established comic rhythm into the premise rather than treating it as something around the edges. These characters make a living through improvisation, deception and the confidence required to convince frightened people that they understand the supernatural.
Real ghosts destroy that advantage. Being exceptionally good at faking a haunting is not much of a professional qualification once the haunting no longer needs assistance.
The movie is already through principal photography
The May date is being attached to a production that is already well advanced. Anything But Ghosts wrapped filming in Vancouver during the spring of 2026, and Variety subsequently reported that it had entered post-production.
Jason Blum produces alongside Roy Lee and Steven Schneider of Spooky Pictures and Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath of Divide/Conquer. Daniel Bekerman, Barker, Tomlinson and Ben Ross are among the executive producers. The film is produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Spooky Pictures and Divide/Conquer in association with Image Nation and That's a Bad Idea.
Its May 7 release will put Barker back in theaters roughly a year after Obsession dramatically raised his profile. The new film is not being positioned as another version of the same story, though. Its starting point is closer to the comic partnership Barker and Tomlinson built before that breakthrough.
The pitch is almost suspiciously economical: two people who make money pretending ghosts exist finally meet some. The rest of their business plan may require revision.
