A much-anticipated film shoot scheduled to begin in the region this week has been postponed indefinitely.
New York-based Cardinal Flix has to hire a new producer before “Arachnophilia” can move forward, said company co-founder Brian Long, who dropped out of the producer job for health reasons.
Long, who remains with the company, promises the project will go forward.
“All the plans will stay in place,” Long said. “We just now have to get everything reorganized and rescheduled.”
Brian Long, a co-founder of New York-based film production company Cardinal Flix, speaks about the film ‘Arachnophilia’ during a press conference at A’tera 519 in downtown Scranton Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The cast and crew already hired remain attached to the project, and the company still plans to use Keystone College in La Plume Twp. and other local sites as shooting locations, he said.
The anticipated fall 2027 New York premiere will almost surely be pushed back, he said.
“It’s a real difficult thing. But, you know, we’ve been doing this for years, so we know how to kind of navigate through,” Long said.
The plot of the thriller centers on a high school orchestra teacher who has multiple reasons to dislike spiders but later finds a way to use them to seek revenge.
Cardinal Flix co-founder Sarah T. Schwab, the screenwriter and director, will carry the project forward, Long said.
“This is a hugely important project for her,” he said. “She’s been working on it for years and years.”
At a June press conference, Schwab said the movie grew out of her childhood discomfort around spiders.
“Arachnophilia” is supposed to be the first of four film projects the company aims to produce in Northeast Pennsylvania over the next four to five years.
Cardinal Flix first made its plan public in 2024, with initial plans to shoot in 2025.
The project is privately funded. Local government and business leaders have welcomed Cardinal Flix, but there is no financial contribution or obligation.