As you may recall, the late George A. Romero was at one point attached to direct an adaptation of Stephen King‘s 1999 novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but that planned project unfortunately never came to be. All these years later, THR reports today, producers Roy Lee (IT) and Jon Berg of Vertigo Films are spear-heading an adaptation of their own.
Interestingly, the site notes that Chris Romero, “the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero” is also part of the team. As is Ryan Silbert of Origin Story.
“I’m thrilled that my book is being brought to the screen, and that George’s company is involved. Chris (Romero) has worked long and hard to make this project happen,” said King.
In The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, “King offers a frightening suspense novel about a young girl who becomes lost in the woods as night falls.”
“On a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror.”
“As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio’s reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her—protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods…”
No word yet on who will be writing or directing the adaptation of King’s novel.