Amazon Studios takes another step forward with original programming by picking up the rights to Nicholas Winding Refn’s next film, Neon Demon.

According to Variety, Amazon will release the picture in the Summer of 2016. It was jointly produced by Gaumont and Wild Bunch, the same groups that brought us Refn’s previous outing, Only God Forgives. Amazon’s theatrical release all but ensures that they’ll get first dibs on the film’s post-movie house life. Amazon is placing itself right next to Netflix in the content creation, distribution, and exhibition game. Could these be the next big studios?

Neon Demon is a horror movie starring Elle Fanning as Jesse, a girl who moves to Los Angeles with aspirations of becoming a model. She comes across a group of women so obsessed with beauty that they will go to any lengths to take Jesse’s from her.

When forming the idea of the film, Refn told Variety, “One morning I woke up and realized I was both surrounded and dominated by women. Strangely, a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty.”

Refn’s filmography also includes 2008’s Bronson, starring Tom Hardy, and 2011’s Drive, starring Ryan Gosling. The latter film was a critical success and earned Refn the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival.

If Refn matches even a portion of the visual style he created with the three previously mentioned movies, his transition to the horror genre will be a successful one.

Neon Demon also stars Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, and Jena Malone.

So what do you think about Amazon’s big movie into movie theaters? Are you looking forward to Refn’s next film? Will the lack of Gosling affect your desire to check it out? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

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HT: Variety
IMAGE: Gaumont