The growing influence of Hollywood’s Nerd Mafia continues to infiltrate moviemaking at every level.Take this item from Cinematical. Let’s analyze it shall we?

I posted about the film version of Stephen King’s The Mist back in October, and now, according to Fangoria.com, the film now has a production date.

Okay let’s start with Stephen King, Best-selling legend, modern day Hemingway, check, but also a card carrying COMIC BOOK WRITER.

On February 20 director Frank Darabont will be going to work behind the camera, with star Thomas Jane going to work in front of it.

Nerd! Nerd! Darabont is a San Diego regular who likes to go around and gush at his favorite cartoonists. Jane’s comic book nerd credentials are, of course unassailable — he’s a publisher, a writer, a star, and likes to carry boxes for Tim Bradstreet.

KNB’s Greg Nicotero also serving as the film’s Second Unit Director. Nicotero worked in a similar capacity on George Romero’s Land of the Dead, and he has makeup and effects credits on such diverse films as Spider-man 3, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Bubba Ho-tep and Evil Dead 2, to name but a few.

We think that speaks for itself.

Digital effects will be handled by the staff of Café FX under the supervision of Everett Burrell. Café FX’s work can also be seen in Pan’s Labyrinth and Sin City.

Directors Guillermo Del Toro and Robert Rodrieguez being charter members of the Nerd mafia, you can see how this all goes. It’s getting so a jock can’t even get a job in this town.

[Pictured: Darabont]