Earlier this year, Universal Pictures emerged victorious from a three-way bidding war against Netflix and Sony over a feature film package centred on the 1987 Stephen King novel, The Tommyknockers. Now, following a four-month lull, the adaptation has finally landed itself a writer.
According to The Wrap, Jeremy Slater, creator of The Exorcist television series and the writer behind Joshua Trank’s abysmal Fantastic Four reboot and Adam Wingard’s subpar Death Note reimagining, has been tapped by Universal to draft their conversion of the 558-page piece of science-fiction horror.
Orbiting around the townsfolk of Haven, Maine, who succumb to the influence of a peculiar object buried in the woods, The Tommyknockers is presently without a director, though preceding purchase, James Wan (Aquaman) – who’s producing under his Atomic Monster Productions banner – was said to be mulling over stepping behind the camera.
While the adaptation will be the first big screen translation of The Tommyknockers, back in 1993, ABC commissioned a miniseries based on the King novel in question, which was executive produced by Larry Sanitsky, who will also serve – alongside Roy Lee (The LEGO Movie) – as a producer on the film.
It’s no secret the Master of Horror’s oeuvre has been picked clean as of late, due in no small measure to the mammoth box office success of Andy Muschietti’s IT. Unfortunately, this is just the latest piece of literature to fall prey to studio vultures, who are looking to exploit the King brand for all it’s worth. With any luck, though, with horror maestro James Wan – point man on both The Conjuring and Insidious – overseeing the project, The Tommyknockers won’t become just another victim of corporate greed.
