Thirty years after its initial publication, Stephen King's The Tommyknockers could be coming to life once again in a new adaptation.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker James Wan (The Conjuring 2, Aquaman) and producer Roy Lee (2017's IT, Blair Witch) have set their sights on producing a new screen adaptation of The Tommyknockers through their Atomic Monster and Vertigo Entertainment labels, respectively. This would the second adaptation of the 1987 King novel about a small town where the residents are changing for the worse after a mysterious object from space crashes into the woods.
Although the planned adaptation currently does not have a home, Wan and Lee have teamed up with producer Larry Sanitsky, who was one of the executive producers of 1993 ABC miniseries adaptation and currently holds the screen rights to the 1987 novel.
The trio sent out their own pitch package to studios and streaming services for the adaptation, with Sanitsky writing (via THR), "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."
No deal for the adaptation has been made at this time, but we'll be sure to keep Daily Dead readers updated on the project as more details are announced. For those unfamiliar with The Tommyknockers, we have the official synopsis for the book below, as well as the trailer for the miniseries, starring Marg Helgenberger and Jimmy Smits.
Synopsis (via Amazon): "On a beautiful June day, while walking deep in the woods on her property in Haven, Maine, Bobbi Anderson quite literally stumbles over her own destiny and that of the entire town. For the dull gray metal protrusion she discovers in the ground is part of a mysterious and massive metal object, one that may have been buried there for millennia. Bobbi can’t help but become obsessed and try to dig it out…the consequences of which will affect and transmute every citizen of Haven, young and old. It means unleashing extraordinary powers beyond those of mere mortals—and certain death for any and all outsiders. An alien hell has now invaded this small New England town…an aggressive and violent malignancy devoid of any mercy or sanity…"
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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