Eli Roth to Direct Film Adaptation of THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS, Starring Jack Black

We've seen Jack Black enter the world of horror as R.L. Stine in the Goosebumps movie, and now it looks like the actor is heading back into the realm of chills and thrills with Amblin Entertainment and Mythology Entertainment's film adaptation of the 1973 children's book The House with a Clock in its Walls.

According to multiple sources, including Variety (with Deadline the first to report the news), Black will star in and Roth will direct The House with a Clock in its Walls. Eric Kripke, the creator of the long-running Supernatural TV series, wrote the screenplay for the film, adapting the 1973 children's book for the big screen.

Written by the late John Bellairs and featuring illustrations by Edward Gorey, The House with a Clock in its Walls was the first installment of a horror mystery series featuring the young, orphaned protagonist Lewis Barnavelt. The series even continued after Bellairs passed away in 1991, with Brad Strickland continuing to write new books in the series, the latest of which is 2008's The Sign of the Sinister Sorcerer.

In The House with a Clock in its Walls, Lewis moves in with his uncle in a Michigan town, only to discover that his relative is a warlock, his next-door neighbor is a witch, and the fate of the world could be ticking within the walls of the house.

It hasn't officially been announced who Black will play in the film, but he would presumably portray Lewis' uncle.

Along with Kripke, Mythology's Brad Fischer and James Vanderbilt will produce the film, with William Sherak, Tracey Nyberg, and Laeta Kalogridis on board as executive producers. This could be the next movie for Eli Roth, who directed the upcoming Death Wish reboot and is also set to direct Amblin's film adaptation of the Aleister Arcane comic book series, starring Jim Carrey. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates.