Alejandro Hidalgo to Direct Malaysian Hungry Ghost Festival Horror 'The Hungry One'

Alejandro Hidalgo, whose 2021 film "The Exorcism of God" sold to more than 150 countries, will direct "The Hungry One," a supernatural horror film set during Malaysia's Hungry Ghost Festival. The project launches at the Busan International Film Festival's Asian Contents & Film Market, with Kuala Lumpur-based Abnormal Studios handling worldwide sales.

Singapore-based Clover Films has already acquired rights for Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Filmmaker and entrepreneur Justin Leong is driving the project through Los Angeles-based Lightning Pictures.

What is the story about?

The plot follows Emily, an American woman who travels with Simon, her Chinese Malaysian husband, and their son Louis to spend the summer at his family's mansion. Their stay coincides with the 15-day Hungry Ghost Festival, when the underworld is believed to open and the dead mingle with the living.

Emily becomes the target of escalating encounters with a vengeful presence trying to cross over. She must dig into the house's hidden past before it takes her family.

Why the Hungry Ghost Festival?

Leong, who has deep ties to Malaysian-Chinese culture, drew on his own family's traditions to shape the story. He said the festival's imagery convinced him the material belonged on screen.

"Growing up in Asia, I always felt the Hungry Ghost Festival was incredibly rich visually, from the fire and offerings to the rituals and mythology behind it. When you capture that and shoot it cinematically, it's movie gold. It gives us a world that audiences may not have seen before, but one that feels immediately atmospheric, mysterious and made for horror," Leong said.

Who else is attached?

The creative team combines festival veterans and award winners:

• Harrison Allen, producer, won the live action short Oscar at this year's Academy Awards for the Netflix title "The Singers." His latest feature, "Anima," screened at SXSW this year.
• Thomas Percy Kim, a Sundance and Toronto fellow, made his debut feature "Isle Child" — based on his own short that HBO Max acquired — which premiered in Toronto.
• Justin Parker, screenwriter, worked on the development of HBO's Emmy-nominated limited series "Station Eleven" and wrote on the docuseries "Religion of Sports."

What is Hidalgo's track record?

Hidalgo's first feature, "The House at the End of Time," remains Venezuela's biggest horror hit at the box office. It earned strong notices on the festival circuit and has since gathered a cult audience for mixing the supernatural with science fiction.

"The Exorcism of God" bowed at Fantastic Fest in 2021. Saban Films handled its U.S. theatrical release, and the film ended 2022 as the highest-grossing Latin American film worldwide.

When will it shoot?

"The Hungry One" is in pre-production. Its producers are working to lock the last portion of its financing — the key hurdle before cameras roll.

Abnormal Studios, a subsidiary of Westec Media Limited, has acquired and released films since 2020 and has handled more than 400 titles to date. It now brings around 100 films a year to Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Mongolia and Nepal. Recent releases include "How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies" and "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In."

If Abnormal closes financing in Busan, the film will pair a proven Latin American horror hitmaker with a Southeast Asian sales operation that moves roughly 100 titles a year — a combination positioned to carry a Malaysian ghost story to a global market.