Deon Taylor and Tommy Oliver Team for Horror Movie ‘Don’t Open the Door’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Deon Taylor‘s Hidden Empire Film Group and Tommy Oliver‘s Confluential Films are teaming up to produce the new horror film “Don’t Open the Door,” aligning the powers of two Black-owned studios known for making high-quality, culturally-rich films on lean budgets.

Taylor (“Fatale,” “The Intruder,” “Black and Blue”) will write and direct the film with his Hidden Empire partner Roxanne Avent Taylor producing. Confluential Films is producing and co-financing the project under the company’s recently launched horror label, “New Fear Unlocked.” 

“Returning to the director’s chair with a story this bold is a moment I’ve been waiting for,” said Taylor. “This partnership with Tommy Oliver and Confluential Films isn’t just timely — it’s a powerful move rooted in vision, ownership, and the evolution of horror through a Black creative lens.”

Added Oliver: “The combination of Confluential and Hidden Empire is going to be straight fire. Deon is an artist, an entrepreneur, and a marketing genius who I’m incredibly excited to work with. We’re also proud to be shooting this, and another film in the fall, in Los Angeles, where we can support the local economy and get to sleep in our own beds!”

Set in South Central L.A.’s West Adams district, “Don’t Open the Door” is described as “an elevated horror rooted in real-world trauma and dread” and “fusing cerebral tension with existential fear.” Plot details are being kept under wraps for the genre-bending film, which also features an undisclosed comic book element. Production is slated to begin in Los Angeles this July.

Oliver and Gerren Crochet are producing for Confluential alongside Avent Taylor and Omar Joseph for Hidden Empire. Malcolm Spellman and Lexx Fusco will executive produce. Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Dante Spinotti (“Heat,” “L.A. Confidential,” “The Insider”) and acclaimed casting director Kim Coleman (“BlacKkKlansman,” “Dear White People”) are also on board the project.

Known for creating “Fatale,” “The Intruder,” “Black and Blue” and the “Meet the Blacks” franchise, Hidden Empire’s development slate includes a reboot of the blaxploitation horror classic “Blacula” for Amazon MGM Studios; a biopic about the late civil rights icon John Lewis; and a four-part docuseries on boxing legend Floyd Mayweather.

Confluential Films’ new horror imprint, New Fear Unlocked, recently wrapped “Goons,” starring Michael Rainey Jr. and Chloe Bailey, and is currently developing an adaptation of the graphic novel “Killer Bee,” starring DeWanda Wise. Confluential is also in post on “Hamlet” starring Riz Ahmed.

The company’s recent releases include “Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” for HBO, which won an Emmy and a Sundance grand jury award; “Fancy Dance,” starring Lily Gladstone for Apple TV+; the AFI Fest-winning documentary “Juice WRLD: Into The Abyss” for HBO; and the Tribeca audience award winner “The Perfect Find,” starring Gabrielle Union and Keith Powers for Netflix.

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