del Toro’s ‘Nightmare Alley’ Streams on Hulu, HBO Max Feb. 1

Disney has announced that Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” will be coming to Hulu and HBO Max on February 1.

The news may surprise some since the movie’s producer, Searchlight Pictures, belongs to the Fox group, which got acquired by Disney in 2019. Disney is the major owner of Hulu while WarnerMedia owns HBO Max. When Disney bought Fox, they had to honor a pre-existing agreement between Fox and Warner for streaming rights to Fox films; that agreement runs though 2022.

“Nightmare Alley” was adapted by del Toro and Kim Morgan from William Lindsay Gresham’s novel; it was made into a stunning 1947 film directed by Edmund Goulding that starred Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker and Mike Mazurki.

This version stars Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, David Strathairn, Ron Perlman, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins and Mary Steenburgen and, since its December 17 theatrical opening, has grossed $9.7 million at the North American boxoffice. Its received numerous critics’ awards and nominations for best picture, acting, direction and cinematography.

When charismatic but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle ( Cooper) endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena (Collette) and her has-been mentalist husband Pete (Strathairn) at a traveling carnival, he crafts a golden ticket to success, using this newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York society. With the virtuous Molly (Mara) loyally by his side, Stanton plots to con a dangerous tycoon (Jenkins) with the aid of a mysterious psychiatrist (Blanchett) who might be his most formidable opponent yet.

A black-and-white version of the film, called “Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light,” began a limited theatrical run last week.