Welcome back Studio Coffee Folks! This weekend was relatively quiet given the holiday, but we still have some big news as Salem’s Lot finds a director, as well as a handful of acquisitions from Netflix, Valiant and Lionsgate.
ICYMI:
- We’ve got an exhaustive guide to the best Futurama episodes for the COVID era.
- And a few more images of Wonder Woman 1984 thanks to Empire’s upcoming issue.
Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot finds its director
New Line revealed in a THR exclusive that Annabelle Comes Home director Gary Dauberman will be leading up the New Line adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. He doubles down in the project, which he’s already been working on as screenwriter. James Wan, Roy Lee and Mark Wolper produce the movie, which follows the story of an author returning to his hometown, only to discover that a mysterious European man is gradually turning the entire population into vampires. So, it’s up to the author and the remaining healthy folks to band together and confront the sanguine scoundrel.
16 States is the next pandemic movie of the times
Another timely script gets its wings this weekend, as Lionsgate secures 16 States, a zombie movie from John Requea and Glenn Ficarra, with Fede Álvarez on board to direct. As far as story goes, the movie is set in the middle of a pandemic riddled with undead and one mother trying to reunite with her family. Per THR, it bears similarities to I Am Legend. As far as production goes, 16 States brings Álvarez back together with his Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead producers, Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane along with Erin Westerman and Damon Wolf. The script has only been in the works for about a year, but with COVID running rampant, the writers (and studios) were eager to get 16 States started.
Netflix and Haifaa Al-Mansour tap into all of our class-related rage
In a recent announcement, Netflix revealed its adaptation of Keira Cass’ The Selection novel is to be directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour (Mary Shelley, The Perfect Candidate). The first in a series of five books, The Selection takes place in a dystopian future where castes are broken down numerically, beginning with Ones (the richest and most prosperous) and down to the Eights (orphans, victims of poverty, handicapped). The book’s main character, America, is a Five who isn’t bothered by her label and is much more interested in playing her violin than trying to compete for the prince’s hand in marriage. Al-Mansour previously worked with Netflix on her 2018 movie, Nappily Ever After.
Vertical Entertainment will Run With the Hunted (in North America and the U.K.)
Ron Perlman and Michael Pitt’s Run With the Hunted finds its North American distributor in Vertical Entertainment, following the company’s prior acquisition of the movie’s U.K. distribution rights. The noir crime thriller is shooting for a summer release in a small selection of theaters, as well as VOD, per Deadline. It follows the story of two long lost friends, Oscar and Loux. As kids, Oscar, in an attempt to protect Loux, kills her abusive father, forcing him to run away, forget what he left behind and become the leader of a ragtag group of other lost kids. Fifteen years afterwards, Loux discovers his missing child report and sets out to find him. Run With the Hunted also co-stars William Forsythe, Dree Hemingway, Mark Boone Junior, Kylie Rogers, Slaine, Sam Quartin, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
