The Deliverance: Lee Daniels Netflix Horror Movie To Release in August 2024

Netflix has long wrapped up filming Lee Daniels’s highly anticipated next movie, The Deliverance (formerly known as Demon House). This feature film is based on the haunting story of Latoya Ammons and her family, which was widely reported in the US in 2014. It’s set to arrive on Netflix in late August with a theatrical release and here’s everything we know so far.

Filmmaker Lee Daniels rewrote the script from earlier drafts and will direct the horror picture. His credits include Empire, Star, Good People, and The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Netflix is said to have paid a hefty $65M to get the rights to the movie, which is part of Netflix’s “mid-budget” film lineup.

Until July 2022, the movie was known as Demon House, but likely to avoid conflicts with a 2018 movie of the same name, it’s now called The Deliverance.

In addition to Daniels, Todd Crites and Jackson Nguyen of Turn Left Productions are producing, and Greg Renker and Gregoire Gensollen are EPs. Elijah Bynum and David Coggeshall are writing the movie alongside Daniels.

Here’s everything else we know about Netflix’s The Deliverance, starting with the first look at the new movie that was released on June 10th, 2024:

First Look The Deliverance Netflix Scaled

What’s the plot of The Deliverance?

Let’s begin with Netflix’s official synopsis for the upcoming horror:

“Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.”

The thriller is based on Latoya Ammons and her family, whose life rights made this film possible. They claim to have been victims of a demonic possession that has spanned over two years and counting. Ammons and her family have received international media attention for their accounts, which have been witnessed and documented by the Department of Child Services (DCS), Gary (Indiana) Police Department, and hospital staff.

Picture: indystar.com

The experience began with unusual occurrences in her home over two years ago, including swarms of flies around her porch in the winter and unexplainable creaking sounds in her basement. The events progressed to possessive incidents, including her oldest daughter unconsciously levitating above her bed and medical staff witnessing her middle son gliding backward on the floor, wall, and ceiling.

According to Relativity, the DCS case manager witnessed her youngest son growling with his teeth showing and eyes rolled back, locking his hands around his older brother’s throat with no recollection of the incident. Initial psychological exams and exorcism attempts failed to provide an explanation or solution for the bizarre events.

The full story can be read on Indystar here posted on January 25th, 2014.

Who is cast in The Deliverance?

The main character in this story is Latoya Ammons and she’ll be played by singer/songwriter Andra Day. It’s believed her character has been renamed to Ebony.

This is Day’s second major venture in film after her leading role as legendary four-time Grammy winner Billie Holiday in the 2021 movie The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

Day was meant to be originally joined by Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures, The Help) but was replaced at a later date (more on this in a second).

Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, The Wife), Rob Morgan (Stranger Things, Daredevil), Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things), and Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard, Lovecraft Country) rounded out the initial announcement.

In April 2022, Deadline reported that Mo’Nique had been cast to replace Octavia Spencer in the movie. This reunited the actress with Lee Daniels following the 2009 movie Precious. Her casting came during her public spat with Netflix over discrimination, which was settled in June 2022.

In July 2022, we got even more cast announcements for The Deliverance.

Omar Epps (Fatal Affair, Traffik)
Demi Singleton (King Richard, Godfather of Harlem)
Miss Lawrence (Bros, The United States vs. Billie Holiday)
Anthony B. Jenkins (Chicago Med, The Wonder Years)
Tasha Smith (Boston Common) as Asia
James William O’Halloran (Superstore) as Satan
Christina Wren (Eruption: LA) as Neurologist

Pictured: Omar Epps, Demi Singleton, Miss Lawrence and Anthony B. Jenkins

What’s the production status of The Deliverance?

Netflix’s The Deliverance was in pre-production as of February 2022 and was planned to roll the cameras in March 2022 in Philadelphia, US, according to Production Weekly.

Filming for The Deliverance reportedly began on June 20, 2022, and is scheduled to run until August 29, 2022 with all the filming taking place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Several local news outlets picked up on filming throughout with CBS News Pittsburgh starting in late August:

“The Deliverance was being filmed on Munson Avenue, Ella Street, and the McKees Rocks Bridge overnight.”

Numerous other eyewitnesses caught wind of the production throughout Pittsburgh, too.

It’s one of many Netflix productions to have been filmed in Pittsburgh over the years with others, including Sweet Girl, Archive 81, and The Chair.

The movie wrapped on September 3rd, 2022, per an Instagram post from Lee Daniels, captioned:

“It’s a wrap for @therealmoworldwide for #TheDeliverance. Our journey continues…”

Picture: Lee Daniels/Instagram

In December 2022, Netflix’s Vice President of Film, Niija Kuykendall, spoke on the WeAreNetflix podcast, giving an update on the movie, calling it an “event horror” movie, adding:

“This will be very unique because it’s very character driven and is really about the family dynamics of this family and how they come together to deal with possession and the horror aspects of the film. I think it’s going to be really cool to see Lee’s singular vision and taste in the way he approaches storytelling specifically in the framework of a horror, classic type, horror setting. I can’t wait. It’s looking beautiful and I can’t wait for people to see it.”

What’s the Netflix release date for The Deliverance?

On the Tooley Entertainment website, they confirm that The Deliverance is due to release on Netflix in 2024. We then learned the movie is getting two releases in August 2024: