If you thought that the comics-to-media pipeline was slowing down, you would be wrong. And here’s the latest: Black Diamond, a horror comic by Brendan Columbus, Danilo Beyruth, and Lee Loughridge is in development as a feature, Variety exclusively reports.
Director Ernest Dickerson (The Walking Dead, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight and Bones) is set to helm, with Columbus penning the script. Fangoria Studios and Panick Studios (the comic’s publisher) are behind the project, with Panick’s Kris Longo and Adam Schlagman set to produce, alongside Fangoria’s Tara Ansley, Abhi Goel and Armen Aghaeian.
The story sounds pretty chilling, Variety reports:
Compared to both “The Wicker Man” and Hitchcock, an official description of the film teases: “‘Black Diamond’ follows Owen and Victoria Welch on a family ski trip that spirals into a nightmare. When their son is abducted by a mysterious cult, the couple is pushed to the brink and faced with a soul-crushing ultimatum: sacrifice another child or lose their own forever.”
“‘Black Diamond’ was my attempt to put everything I love about thrillers on the page,” Columbus said in a statement. “I want to make sure it feels like you physically can’t leave the theater or else you’ll miss the next twist or turn. With his masterful cinematic eye and his great story sense, Ernest is going to scare the hell out of everyone with this one.”
Besides his lengthy resume directing in film and tv, Dickerson is a legendary cinematographer who shot Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and many other films for Spike Lee.
Variety notes this is the first feature for Panick, which launched its slate of horror comics via Zoop, and also has David Dastmalchian’s The Accessories in its line. With horror films hot again, seems like a pretty good genre to be investing in right about now.
