Universal Adapting Stephen King’s Gramma

Universal may have passed on Ron Howard's adaptation of The Dark Tower series, but Stephen King adaptations are hot once again and Universal has teamed up with Blumhouse Productions for a feature film based on Gramma.

The short story first published in Weirdbook magazine and was part of 1985's Skeleton Crew. The story "follows two young boys who go with their single mother to take care of their elderly, senile grandmother named Mercy, only to discover that she's a witch who made a pact with a dark force many years before."

The movie will be directed by Peter Cornwell (The Haunting in Connecticut) under the new title "Mercy", with a script written by Matt Greenberg who also wrote the adaptation of 1408. Casting appears to still be underway, but Frances O'Connor has signed on to star in the movie.

Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions was recently involved with Paranormal Activity 4, as well as Sinister and The Lords of Salem. They signed a three year first-look deal with Universal who hopes to reproduce the same success that other studios have seen with low budget horror productions.