Two huge names in horror are teaming to rework Stephen King‘s The Tommyknockers.
James Wan, the director and producer behind The Conjuring horror movies, and Roy Lee, one of the producers behind the adaptation of King’s It, are tackling the adaptation of King’s 1987 science fiction-horror novel, says THR. Wan also co-created and directed Saw and Insidious, and is producing the Conjuring spinoffs, The Nun, Annabelle, and The Crooked Man. Lee is a producer on The Grudge, The Ring, Quarantine, Death Note, and dozens of other high profile genre films.
The duo, who would produce via their respective banners Atomic Monster and Vertigo, have teamed up with Larry Sanitsky, the veteran producer who executive produced the Tommyknockers’ 1993 television miniseries adaptation.
“The story told of a town in Maine that falls under the influence of a dangerous gas from an unearthed spacecraftt. The gas begins to transform the people, giving them enhanced abilities, but also making them violent and subject to an alien hive mentality. One man, thanks to a steel plate in his head, is immune to the effects and tries to stop the townspeople.”
The package hit studios and digital streamers such as Netflix on Thursday, ahead of Easter and Passover holiday weekend.
“It is an allegorical tale of addiction (Stephen was struggling with his own at the time), the threat of nuclear power, the danger of mass hysteria and the absurdity of technical evolution run amuck. All are as relevant today as the day the novel was written. It is also a tale about the eternal power of love and the grace of redemption,” wrote Sanitsky, who holds the screen rights, in a mission statement sent to prospective buyers and obtained by THR.
The ABC mini-series starred Jimmy Smits and Marg Helgenberger and was a massive ratings hit. In 2013, NBC announced it would make another adaptation but those plans never came to fruition.