‘Good Boy’ Director Fires Up the Drone for ‘Follow Mode’

Deadline has first details on the next horror project from Good Boy director Ben Leonberg, who will be getting behind the camera for Follow Mode, which is due to be shot entirely on drones and aims to tap into the livestream generation.

Smile and Twilight producer Temple Hill is teaming up once more with U.K. sales firm Protagonist on the film penned by Leonberg and Alex Cannon, who also co-scripted Good Boy.

In the film: “Consumer-grade drones now come with a ‘hands-free’ setting that automatically directs the camera to follow you – in case you’re a surfer taking your next wave, a snowboarder back-flipping off a half-pipe, or a serial killer stalking your next victim. When a group of teens knock this drone out of the sky, they discover that it contains home movies of the killer’s brutal crimes. Now, they must race to expose the killer before becoming his next victims.”

The project marks the sixth collaboration between Temple Hill and Protagonist, following Clown in a Cornfield, as well as Monitor (SXSW), which was recently acquired by Searchlight for a wide theatrical release in the U.S in 2027.

Canine horror Good Boy, made on a micro-budget, played last year at SXSW and Film at Lincoln Center before going on to score $8.8M worldwide, including $6.6M domestically.

Dave Bishop, CEO of Protagonist Pictures, said: “Temple Hill once again proves its instinct for fresh, audience-grabbing horror.  In , Ben proved he is a filmmaker both comfortable pushing boundaries and mastering tension. Shot entirely with drones, delivering a strikingly cinematic experience,  offers a new perspective on terror audiences have simply never seen before. Ben has crafted a rare, diabolical treat that feels both groundbreaking and deeply unsettling.”