The Masque of the Red Death (2026 film)
The Masque of the Red Death is an upcoming American horror film directed by Charlie Polinger, adapting Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 short story of the same name for the studio A24. Mikey Madison stars as twin sisters in a plague-sealed medieval kingdom, with Léa Seydoux, Franz Rogowski, and Benedict Wong in supporting roles.1 The film was in post-production as of the most recent listings, with no release date announced.1 • 2 A separate British film with the same title and year, directed by Nicole Russin-McFarland, is described at the end of this article.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Charlie Polinger, with Edgar Allan Poe credited for the original story1 |
| Lead cast | Mikey Madison as twin sisters; Léa Seydoux as Catarina; also Franz Rogowski and Benedict Wong1 • 2 |
| Production companies | A24 and Picturestart; United States, English language1 |
| Tone | Described by A24 as "wildly revisionist and darkly comedic"2 |
| Filming | Scheduled to begin in February 2026, with location scouting in Budapest3 |
| Status | Post-production; no release date announced as of January 20261 • 2 |
Plot and approach
The film is set in a medieval kingdom sealed against a plague. After a noblewoman is banished, her twin takes on her identity, and while making her way with her daughter through lethal palace scheming, she wonders if the protection offered by castle walls justifies the brutality it costs.1 Trade reporting around the casting of Seydoux described the story as one in which "a mad prince take[s] in the noble class to his castle while a plague devastates the peasantry" and "a long-lost twin, hidden among the lower class, enter[s] the castle and into a decadent world of orgies, opium, power schemes, revenge and decapitations."2
Although based on Poe's 1842 short story, in which Prince Prospero hides from the Red Death in his abbey and hosts a masquerade ball interrupted by a mysterious figure dressed as a plague victim, A24 describes the movie as "wildly revisionist and darkly comedic."2 Polinger himself characterized it as "a particularly dynamic black comedy, which in a way also deals with an epidemic, but in a completely different way," set mostly in a castle in the Middle Ages and exploring group dynamics in a more comic register than the source.3
Production and casting
Development and shoot. The film entered development status in January 2025.4 In statements to GoldDerby reported in early January 2026, Polinger said he was in Budapest for location scouting and that filming would begin there in February, with A24 producing and Madison in the lead.3 By the time of later database listings the film had reached post-production.1
Cast. Madison, who won an Academy Award for her role in 2024's comedy-drama Anora, plays twin sisters.2 Seydoux, known for Dune: Part Two, No Time to Die, and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, plays Catarina, "a scheming lady-in-waiting who is conniving her way to the top."2 The credited cast also includes Ellie-May Sheridan as Rose, Timothy Renouf as Ferdinand, Franz Rogowski, and Benedict Wong.1 According to the film's trivia listing, Sydney Sweeney was originally attached but had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts.1
The director. Charlie Polinger made his directorial debut with The Plague, a psychological horror starring Joel Edgerton, which impressed audiences at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.3
Context among adaptations
Poe's short story has been adapted to film several times, most famously in Roger Corman's 1964 version starring Vincent Price, which BFI describes as the most celebrated of the six Poe adaptations Corman made with Price in the early 1960s.5 The A24 film follows that lineage with a deliberately different register: where Corman's film is a gothic period piece, the 2026 version is positioned as a dark comedy that expands a story short enough to read in under ten minutes into a feature.2 • 6
Other 2026 films of the same title
The title is shared in 2026 by Nicole Russin-McFarland's the Masque of the Red Death, a British horror film produced by Lucky Pineapple Films. It runs 50 minutes, was made on an estimated budget of £100, and is set for release in the United States on June 20, 2026. Its plot transposes Poe's story to the present: Prince Alexander Prospero of Spain is a social media royal influencer living through the 21st century's red death pandemic, until an uninvited guest crashes his masked costume party. Russin-McFarland directs, writes, and stars as the Mistress of the Red Death, alongside Michelle Sellers as Samantha.7
References
- The Masque of the Red Death (2026), IMDb
- Dune and James Bond star Léa Seydoux joins the cast of new A24 horror movie adapting Edgar Allan Poe's story, GamesRadar+ (January 21, 2026)
- Mikey Madison stars in a film adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe short story, Protothema (January 3, 2026)
- The Masque of the Red Death (Pre-Production), MovieInsider
- Roger Corman on making The Masque of the Red Death, BFI
- The Masque of the Red Death, Total Apex Entertainment (January 22, 2026)
- Nicole Russin-McFarland's the Masque of the Red Death (2026), IMDb
Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026
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