American Broadcasting CompanyThe modern master of horror, James Wan, looks set to make the next terrifying Stephen King movie, The Tommyknockers.
According to The Hollywood Reporter Wan’s teaming up with Roy Lee, the producer of 2017’s IT, to make the film which’ll be based on King’s 1987 novel of the same name.
The Tommyknockers, which is the second best selling King book ever, is something of a departure for King, exploring science-fiction themes instead of focusing solely on horror.
American Broadcasting CompanyThe book focuses on the residents of a town in Maine (where else) called Haven, all of whom gradually succumb to the influence of a mysterious and seemingly malevolent object buried in the woods.
Only one man is protected from the thing in the woods and he’s forced to defend himself, as well as the world, from the slowly mutating townsfolk.
Don’t go thinking though, just because this is a sci-fi story it’s not going to live up to the scares of other King works like The Shining or Carrie.
American Broadcasting CompanyThe book features torture, murder and all sorts of nasty, scary stuff to sate the appetite of horror fanatics.
To get their adaptation off the ground, Wan and Lee have both teamed up with Larry Sanitsky, who holds the screen rights to the project and adapted it for television back in 1993.
Sanitsky told The Hollywood Reporter:
[Tommyknockers] is an allegorical tale of addiction, 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’s also a tale about the eternal power of love and the grace of redemption.
We seem to be going through something of a golden age at the moment with Stephen King properties – last year we had the latest terrifying adaptation of IT which was a massive hit with audiences and critics alike.
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IT went on to score a worldwide total of $700.4 million at the box-office making it the 5th most profitable release of 2017, according to Deadline and highest for any horror all-time.
Not only this, but we also got Netflix adaptations of two lesser-known King properties Gerald’s Game and 1922, both of which were popular with horror fans.
Also, the long-awaited Dark Tower movie came out but the less said about that the better because frankly, it was pure unmitigated trash.
PARegardless, fans of horror should be excited about The Tommyknockers, not just because it’s a great story but because of James Wan.
Wan’s had a hand in almost every popular horror franchise in the last decade, working on everything from Saw, Insidious and Lights Out.
He’s perhaps best known for The Conjuring films though, a series which follows the misadventures of the real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, as they battle ghosts, demons and everything that goes bump in the night.
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The films have been so popular they’ve sparked a whole cinematic universe with the latest addition to the series, The Nun, coming later this year.
As for when The Tommyknockers will be released, we don’t know yet but we’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the goings-on.
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More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.