John David Washington is expanding his range with Mime, a supernatural horror thriller that will place him at the center of a dark new story from Sony’s Screen Gems. Washington is attached to star in the project and will also serve as a producer, giving him a creative role behind the camera as the film moves through development.
The movie will be directed by Nikyatu Jusu, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed psychological horror drama Nanny. According to Deadline, Screen Gems secured the project after competing with Amazon and Searchlight, while Stephen Herman wrote the screenplay from his original idea. The story will unfold inside a New York City apartment complex during a heat-wave blackout, though its central supernatural threat remains under wraps.
Jusu’s involvement gives the project a particularly promising creative direction. Her feature debut, Nanny, combined psychological horror with themes of identity, isolation and the immigrant experience, earning the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Mime will give her another opportunity to build suspense through atmosphere and character rather than relying entirely on conventional scares.
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For Washington, the film marks an intriguing move into supernatural horror after leading major projects including BlacKkKlansman, Tenet, The Creator and The Piano Lesson. His ability to balance physical intensity with quieter emotional tension could make him a strong fit for a story set within the confined and increasingly dangerous environment of an apartment building during a citywide emergency.
The producing team also includes Matt Tolmach, Camila Grove and Scott Derrickson, whose credits in suspense and horror add further experience behind the project. Derrickson, known for films including Sinister and The Black Phone, will produce through his Crooked Highway banner, while Washington and Grove are involved through Washington’s production company.
Mime is currently in active development, with filming expected to begin in spring 2027. Additional cast members and an official release date have not yet been announced, but the combination of Washington’s screen presence, Jusu’s distinct filmmaking voice and the film’s blackout setting gives Screen Gems a compelling new supernatural thriller to build around.
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