From the creative crawlspace of Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk comes another twisting depraved tale called, inappropriately enough, Lullaby. This will mark the third time one of Palahniuk’s novels has been adapted for the screen, following the 1999 cult sleeper and Clark Gregg’s Choke.
The story of Lullaby originates from an African urban legend about ‘culling songs.’ While they may sound like ordinary lullabies, when spoken aloud or in one’s mind they possess the power to kill anyone in close proximity. It’s typically Palahniuk-ian subject matter.
This bizarre tale now has indie filmmakers Andy Mingo and Josh Leake attached after they optioned the rights from Palahniuk. The author is expected to co-write the screenplay with Mingo – who will also direct – while Leake is set to produce. Production on Lullaby is slated to begin at the end of 2015.
Until more information surfaces, you can check out the full synopsis for Palahniuk’s original novel below.
Ever heard of a culling song? It’s a lullaby sung in Africa to give a painless death to the old or infirm. The lyrics of a culling song kill, whether spoken or even just thought. You can find one on page 27 of Poems and Rhymes from Around the World, an anthology that is sitting on the shelves of libraries across the country, waiting to be picked up by unsuspecting readers.
Reporter Carl Streator discovers the song’s lethal nature while researching Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and before he knows it, he’s reciting the poem to anyone who bothers him. As the body count rises, Streator glimpses the potential catastrophe if someone truly malicious finds out about the song. The only answer is to find and destroy every copy of the book in the country. Accompanied by a shady real-estate agent, her Wiccan assistant, and the assistant’s truly annoying ecoterrorist boyfriend, Streator begins a desperate cross-country quest to put the culling song to rest.
