When the production company Dark Castle Entertainment was founded by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler in 1998, the plan was to produce remakes of films made by the legendary William Castle… but after making just two Castle remakes (House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts), Dark Castle broadened its focus. Over the decades, the company has brought us such films as Ghost Ship, Gothika, House of Wax, The Hills Run Red, Orphan, Splice, the recently released Seance, and the upcoming Orphan: First Kill. Now Dark Castle is developing a Middle East-set horror film called Book of Chaos, based on an original idea by Egyptian actor Mohamed Karim.
Karim will be playing one of the lead roles in Book of Chaos. Thomas M. Hewlett is writing the script based on Karim’s idea, which is about a
“relentlessly driven Egyptologist” who, searching for the secrets of a long-buried prophecy, unwittingly unleashes an ancient evil and must battle demonic spirits, a dark cult, and the gods themselves to save the world and the woman he loves.
That sounds like the makings of a good time. As described in that synopsis, it brings to mind the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies.
Dark Castle’s Alex Mace, Hal Sadoff, and Ethan Erwin are producing Book of Chaos.
If you’re not familiar with the career of Mohamed Karim, The Hollywood Reporter provides some information: Karim was the host of a Middle East version of The Voice for two years, reaching an audience of over 100 million viewers. He also appeared in the Jordan-set rom-com A Facebook Romance and Egyptian TV series Ard Gaw, and recently worked with Nicolas Cage on A Score to Settle and Bruce Willis on A Day to Die.
How does Book of Chaos sound to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.