With Halloween coming up tomorrow, new information about Disney’s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s seminal October novel Something Wicked This Way Comes seems rather apropos. The planned film version of the fantastic novel already has a director in the form of author/screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith, and now, it also has a writer: Wrath of the Titans scribe David Leslie Johnson.
Something Wicked This Way Comes is based on the Bradbury novel of the same name, and tells the story of two adolescent boys whose small Midwestern town is invaded by a traveling circus. The circus, and its head honcho Mr. Dark, promise to give the townfolk all they ever wanted, but at much higher price than a sideshow ticket. The novel has been adapted by Disney once before, in a version featuring Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark.
With the hiring of Johnson to pen the script, it now appears that Something Wicked This Way Comes will go ahead. I suppose that we can count our blessings on this one. Johnson does have some horror cred, having penned a few scripts for The Walking Dead. Although a writer with other screen credits like Wrath of the Titans is hardly cause for celebration, Johnson is at least not Seth Grahame-Smith. Remember Dark Shadows? No? Man, you’re really lucky.
We can all hope that Grahame-Smith and Johnson will not screw up Something Wicked This Way Comes. The book is a masterpiece of fantasy fiction, an excellent horror story, and a tale of innocence lost. All Johnson has to do is maintain Bradbury’s prose and all Grahame-Smith has to do it maintain his spirit. The rest will do itself, but I somehow fear that even that will be a tall order for these two.
We will keep an eye on casting and production for Something Wicked This Way Comes as more information is made available.
