EXCLUSIVE: Anchor Bay has set the release date for the teen angst thriller The Curse of Downers Grove. The film will hit theaters August 21, 2015, followed by the Blu-ray/DVD release on September 1. Based on the novel by Michael Hornburg and purporting to be inspired by true events, the film follows Downers Grove, IL high school senior Chrissie Swanson, trying to evade an apparent curse that causes one teen to die a gruesome death at the end of every school year. Bella Heathcote, Lucas Till, Penelope Mitchell, Tom Arnold and Kevin Zegers star. Directed by Derick Martini from a script co-written by Martini and Bret Easton Ellis, the pic is produced by Oren Segal, Chiara Trento and Jason Dubin.

Exclusive: The rights to Action Lab Entertainment’s comic series Herald have been acquired by Romark Entertainment, in partnership with Markerstone Pictures. The deal will see newcomer Jared Battaglia adapt the comic for a TV series. Herald, created by writer John Reilly and artists Tom Rogers and Dexter Weeks, is an alternate universe story in which a time-traveling Nikola Tesla teams up with writer H.P. Lovecraft and other historical figures to save the world from various cosmic horrors. Historical characters appear throughout the storyline; the television series will largely stick to this premise. Herald will be produced by Romark’s Rock Shaink and Markerstone’s Mark Lawyer, with Joseph New overseeing for Romark.