Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, Nightmare Alley, is coming to HBO Max and Hulu this February. The movie stars Bradley Cooper as the manipulative Stan Carlisle, a carny con-man who gets in a dangerous relationship with a psychiatrist played by Cate Blanchett.

The news comes as a surprise since the movie’s producer, Searchlight Pictures, belongs to the Fox group, which got acquired by Disney a few years back. However, the fact Nightmare Alley is going to HBO Max in addition to Hulu seems to be the latest instance of the deal struck between Disney and WarnerMedia, which includes dividing Fox movie streaming rights through 2022. Under the terms of said deal, which is expected to end after a year, HBO and HBO Max titles are shared between Disney and Warner Bros. Be it as it may, there’s a new date to set on the calendar to watch or rewatch del Toro’s latest film from the comfort of your couch.

Nightmare Alley was adapted by del Toro and Kim Morgan from William Lindsay Gresham’s novel of the same name. Nightmare Alley was in the middle of production when news of the pandemic became alarming. So on March 10, 2020, del Toro and Cooper conferred and decided together it would be best to stop shooting rather than risk someone falling ill. The six months the crew took before restarting production was not wasted, though, as del Toro edited the part of the movie that was already shot and realized some rewrites were needed. As del Toro explains it:

“We were able to go back six months in between all this and were able to analyze and see not only that character but what we needed to rewrite to be able to go back to a set. If your pores are open, the movie finds you.”

nightmare-alley-del toro and Bradley Cooper
Image via Searchlight Pictures

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The extra time in the oven did the movie wonders, as Nightmare Alley gathered mostly positive reviews. Nightmare Alley's star-studded cast also includes Toni Collette (Hereditary, Knives Out), Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Rooney Mara (Carol), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), David Strathairn (Nomadland), Clifton Collins Jr. (The Last Castle), and Mary Steenburgen (Book Club).

A black-and-white version of the film, called Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light, began a limited theatrical run beginning this week. The regular version of Nightmare Alley comes to HBO Max and Hulu on February 1.

Here’s Nightmare Alley's official synopsis:

An ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.