Bryan Fuller finally made a feature. The Hannibal showrunner stepped behind the camera two years ago to shoot Dust Bunny, a family-leaning monster movie he built as a gateway horror throwback to the Amblin-ish 80s. Now Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions are sending it into theaters on December 12. The twist? The MPA slapped it with an R rating for "some violence," which is absolutely not the vibe Fuller thought he was making.
The setup
Dust Bunny centers on 10-year-old Aurora, who decides her mysterious next-door neighbor might be the perfect guy to help her with a very specific problem: she thinks a monster ate her entire family. The neighbor (Mads Mikkelsen), it turns out, is a literal hit man who also kills real monsters. When he suspects the killers who took out Aurora’s parents might have actually been gunning for him, guilt kicks in and he takes the job. From there, it’s an assassin gauntlet, a bodyguard mission, and a rude awakening that some monsters are not just in your head.
What to know at a glance
- Release: Theatrical on December 12 via Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.
- Rating: R from the MPA (formerly MPAA) for "some violence."
- Tone/intent: Fuller conceived it as a kid-accessible gateway horror and a throwback to the 80s era of family-friendly frights. Yes, that makes the R rating extra eyebrow-raising.
- Cast: Mads Mikkelsen (yes, Hannibal himself), Sigourney Weaver (Alien), David Dastmalchian (Late Night With the Devil), and Sophie Sloan (Chemistry of Death).
- Weaver’s role: She teased to New York Social Diary that her character is "not so nice" but wears "really beautiful costumes," which feels perfectly on brand.
- Producers: Entertainment One with Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee.
- Early buzz: Screened at TIFF, where critic Chris Bumbray scored it 6/10 and called it a fun ride with refreshingly original vibes thanks to Fuller’s oddball sensibility and the Mikkelsen/Sloan pairing.
About that R rating
Fuller says he aimed this squarely at younger viewers who want their first bump-in-the-night big-screen experience, the way he grew up on The Wizard of Oz, saw Alien at nine, and Black Christmas at seven without being scarred for life. So hearing the film was rated R? Not what he expected. Speaking on The Horror Queers podcast, he noted there’s no nudity, no swearing, and far less nastiness than plenty of PG-13 studio fare. The example he drops is M3GAN, which did some gnarly stuff and still squeaked in under PG-13.
"We were stunned... The MPA is notorious about being really hard on independent movies and a little more lax on studio films... They said what put us over the edge was the non-lethal toothbrush injury."
Yes, you read that right: a non-lethal toothbrush injury is what tipped Dust Bunny into R territory. That’s a very specific kind of ratings-nerd detail, and it lines up with the MPA’s sometimes head-scratching thresholds. Fuller still hopes it becomes the first R-rated movie some kids see, but he also tells parents who are unsure to watch it first; he describes it as a spirited, rollicking adventure anchored by a brave, relatable kid hero.
Where this lands
As a debut feature, Fuller going full fairy-tale hit-man with Mikkelsen is already an intriguing swing. Add in Weaver playing against nice, Dastmalchian doing his reliably eerie thing, and a lead kid who reportedly holds her own, and Dust Bunny sounds like the kind of oddball genre piece that either becomes a cult favorite or at least a lively December counter-programmer. The R rating might keep some families at arm’s length, but if Fuller is right, curious parents might want to pre-screen and make the call. Either way, the movie’s out December 12, toothbrush and all.