Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley is officially coming to streaming platforms HBO Max and Hulu this February after two months of being in theaters. Del Toro's film marks the second feature-length adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 neo-noir novel following Edmund Goulding's acclaimed 1947 effort. The Oscar winner partnered with Kim Morgan to co-write the script for Nightmare Alley in 2017 with production finally getting underway in early 2020 following COVID-related delays.
Nightmare Alley centers on Stan Carlisle, an ambitious carnival worker who learns the ability to mentally manipulate people and uses this unique talent to make money. However, this would lead to him crossing the path of corrupt psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter, putting him in danger and threatening his life and livelihood. Bradley Cooper led the star-studded roster of Nightmare Alley as Stan alongside Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn.
Ahead of the film's theatrical re-release, Collider has brought word that Nightmare Alley is coming to both HBO Max and Hulu. Guillermo del Toro's neo-noir thriller is set to premiere on both streaming platforms on February 1 followed by reportedly hitting shelves on 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-ray and DVD in March. The streaming version of Nightmare Alley will only be the original theatrical cut of the film for the time being and not the black-and-white version.
The announcement of Nightmare Alley's streaming release date comes in the middle of the film's theatrical re-release, which brings del Toro's black-and-white version of the film to the screen. It also comes just a month after the film opened to a remarkably low box office performance, having only hauled in $2.8 million in its opening weekend against its $60 million production budget, the highest ever for studio Searchlight Pictures. Since its release, Nightmare Alley has only brought in an estimated $9.4 million, the lowest for the co-writer/director since his acclaimed 2001 gothic horror pic The Devil's Backbone.
It is interesting to note that Nightmare Alley will be receiving its streaming debut on both HBO Max and Hulu, becoming the latest title from any Fox library to get a dual streaming release as studios Disney and WarnerMedia struck a deal to divide Fox movie rights through 2022. Other titles to receive the same treatment include the animated adventure Ron's Gone Wrong and the forthcoming Predator prequel Prey, though interestingly Ridley Scott's The Last Duel hit HBO Max first before coming to Hulu in February. Those who missed Nightmare Alley in theaters can catch it at home when it hits Hulu and HBO Max on February 1.
Source: Collider