David Howard Thornton is set to star in the upcoming Steamboat Willie horror film now titled Screamboat, Variety has learned.
Thornton will play Steamboat Willie in the horror comedy. Steamboat Willie is the earliest version of Disney’s iconic Mickey Mouse character, and it entered the public domain on January 1, opening the door for projects like this one and the upcoming Mickey’s Mouse Trap.
Screamboat follows a group of New Yorkers on a late-night ferry ride that turns deadly when a mischievous mouse begins a rampage, targeting unsuspecting passengers. The unlikely crew must band together to thwart the murderous menace before their relaxing commute turns into a nightmare.
Directed by Steven LaMorte (The Mean One), the movie is also joining the cast are Allison Pittel (Stream), Amy Schumacher (The Mean One), Jesse Posey (Teen Wolf), Jesse Kove (Cobra Kai), Rumi C Jean-Louis (Hightown) as well as horror veterans Jarlath Conroy (George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead) and Charles Edwin Powell (The Exorcist III).
As for Thornton, he is best known for is known for his role as Art the Clown from the Terrifier franchise, a role in which he appeared in Terrifier (2016), Mistress Peace Theatre (2020), Terrifier 2 (2022) and Bupkis (2023) and is set to reprise in Terrifier 3 (2024). He also starred as the Mean One aka The Grinch in The Mean One (2022).