Martin Scorsese is the Academy-, Golden Globe-, BAFTA-, and Emmy Award-winning director behind many critically acclaimed films over the past several decades. But we have yet to see Scorsese direct a horror movie. He’s dipped a toe into the genre with films like Shutter Island, but now he’s taking the plunge with What Happens at Night, an adaptation of the 2020 horror novel of the same name by Peter Cameron.
Peter Cameron’s novel follows an unnamed American couple who travel to a snowy Eastern European city in hopes of adopting a baby to save their rocky marriage. The wife is ill with cancer, and the journey ends up becoming extremely taxing for her weakened body. Meanwhile, the husband worries that the wife’s illness will cost them their child. When the couple arrives, they check into a strange hotel with an unsettling cast of characters, including a faith healer, an alcoholic businessman, and a down-on-her-luck singer. But the eerie hotel is even odder than the couple could have imagined. Reality begins to distort, and the husband and wife start reexamining their life and their relationship.
Apple Original Films and Studiocanal are producing the film adaptation, which started filming in February of this year and wrapped in late May. Scorsese and crew spent 35 days filming in Prague and Switzerland and shot some interior scenes in New York City. The script was written by Patrick Marber (Closer).
Scorsese is once again teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio for this film. DiCaprio will play the husband while Jennifer Lawrence will star opposite him as the wife. If you were curious, the age gap between DiCaprio and Lawrence is 15 years. The supporting cast also includes Mads Mikkelsen, Patricia Clarkson, Jared Harris, Welker White, Ilinca Manolache, and Gabriel Spahiu.
What Happens at Night entered post-production in May 2026, but Scorsese famously spends up to two years in post-production. With that in mind, it’s hard to know when Scorsese’s first horror film will be in cinemas. But hopefully we’ll see it start hitting the festival circuit in 2027.
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