Norman Reedus shared a special treat with his fans on the eve of The Walking Dead's 16th anniversary of its premiere episode.
On Oct. 30, Reedus went on Instagram and dropped the trailer for his latest movie, Pendulum. The film hits theaters on Jan. 1, 2027, about a month before the premiere of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 4 on AMC.
According to the film's synopsis, Pendulum takes place at a new-age retreat deep in the New Mexico wilderness, where a couple arrives to help them heal from an unknown traumatic event in their past. There, they are thrown off by the leader's strange practices and begin to realize this place may not be what they expected.
The movie also stars several big names, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Phoebe Dynevor, Jacki Weaver, and more, alongside Reedus. Pendulum director Mark Heyman also worked with Darren Aronofsky on this.
While Aronofsky was just a producer on Pendulum, the two previously worked together on Black Swan, where Heyman co-wrote the script. In a quote released by Collider, director Heyman wrote this regarding the film:
“PENDULUM grew out of my upbringing in and around various spiritual groups and gurus that my parents explored in the ’70s and ’80s. The film was inspired by one of their stranger encounters, and much of it is true. Having experienced that world from the inside, I wanted to capture how people get drawn into these cultish groups—and the danger of surrendering yourself completely to the unknown. Like those gurus, the film blurs the line between the physical and supernatural realms. Only instead of trying to heal you, it’s going to freak you out.”
Cults, the supernatural, and so much more. This sounds exactly like what the doctor ordered for horror fans.
There's another thing worth mentioning. Dave Caplan, a producer on Longlegs (released in 2024 and met with rave reviews), is working on this film. The movie will be rated R, as you'd expect, but from the trailer alone, it looks like it really earns that rating.
It’s interesting to see this, since Reedus hasn’t done much horror outside The Walking Dead, especially in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. This is his first major horror role after playing Daryl in The Walking Dead for several years, and it’s fitting that he posted the trailer on his Instagram on the eve of the show's 16th anniversary.
The Walking Dead premiered on Oct. 31, 2010
Sixteen years ago, on Halloween night, the first episode, "Days Gone Bye," of The Walking Dead aired, launching a franchise we’re still watching today. Reedus has been part of the series since the very beginning.
While he wasn’t in the first or second episode, his appearance in “Tell It To the Frogs” was the start of a long stint in horror television. Instead, the first episode, as we all know, followed Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).
While it is entertaining to see him in The Walking Dead, Reedus has been diversifying beyond horror, which makes this such a fun picture for him. He recently appeared in Ballerina alongside Ana de Armas, a spinoff film in the John Wick universe. The movie didn’t do really well at the box office; it exploded on streaming and became a hit. He’s also going to appear in a new Apple TV show called Disavowed, a spy thriller, in 2027.
It’s so interesting to see Reedus also do something in horror again. He recently said goodbye to Daryl with an emotional post after filming the final season of Daryl Dixon. After so many years in horror, I wouldn’t have been shocked if he decided to try completely different genres.
That being said, this is a pleasant surprise. While it’s not his first post-Walking Dead project, as that will most likely be the new Apple TV show, it is cool to see him step into another horror world right before the last season of Daryl Dixon.
With Reedus leaving the series soon, it’s just a matter of time before he’s in some slasher, and I, for one, can’t wait to see it.
You can see Pendulum in theaters when it releases on Jan. 1, 2027. You can also watch all 11 seasons of The Walking Dead on Netflix.
Add us as a preferred source on Google