How Upcoming Horror Film Leviticus Is Reinventing Fan Hype With an Official Pre-Release Scene Pack
Word of mouth has long been the deciding factor in whether a feature film sinks or swims at the box office. In the modern digital age, this organic buzz most often takes the form of viral social media hype—from the glowing widespread rave reviews that drove the breakout success of Obsession, to the endlessly memed single scene that lured curious new audiences to check out I Love Boosters.
One of the clearest signs of a passionate, active fandom is the creation of fan edits: short, music-backed clip compilations pulled from a movie or TV show, almost always crafted around a core theme tied to the original source material. Though fan edits are, as the name suggests, made entirely by fans, one highly anticipated upcoming film has found a groundbreaking way to kickstart their creation weeks ahead of its theatrical launch.
That film is Leviticus, a new horror movie hitting cinemas on June 19. Leviticus follows two teenage boys as they explore their queer identities and fall in love—only for a disturbing, sinister demonic possession to tear them apart.
While Leviticus already earned meaningful early buzz following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, director Adrian Chiarella has taken promotional strategy to a new level by offering fans early official access to a "scene pack": a curated collection of high-quality clips purpose-built to be perfect material for fan edits.
Traditionally, before a film’s release, fan creators can only pull clips from official promotional trailers, and must rely on low-quality cam rips or pirated footage to make edits ahead of the film’s streaming launch. Leviticus upended this longstanding status quo by releasing an official, studio-endorsed scene pack directly to creators.
On social media, the film’s official account shared a public link to the scene pack, alongside an open invitation for fans to "edit your heart out" and a personal letter from director Chiarella to the community. "Thanks so much for jumping on these clips and showing some love to the film," Chiarella wrote, adding that he hopes fans enjoy editing lead actors Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen as much as he enjoyed working with them.
