It’s Over: Akela Cooper, writer of M3GAN, Malignant, and The Nun II, is scripting a new horror film

Deadline reports that Sony Pictures has come out the winner in a bidding war over the rights to bring an adaptation of Jack Follman’s 29-page short story It’s Over to the screen, forking over an amount somewhere in the mid mid- to high-six-figure range to acquire the project. One reason why It’s Over was so appealing to studios is the fact that it has an experienced genre writer attached to handle the screenplay adaptation: Akela Cooper, whose credits include Hell Fest, Malignant, M3GAN, The Nun II, and the upcoming sequel M3GAN 2.0. Cooper is also co-executive producer of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

It’s Over hit the marketplace last Wednesday, the same day the writers strike finally ended after nearly five months. According to Deadline, “the town responded quickly”.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it’s said the story “takes the painful breakup of a longtime couple and drives it right into the horror lane, blending humor and social commentary.“

It’s Over is being produced by Roy Lee‘s Vertigo Entertainment and Scott Glassgold‘s Ground Control. 

I haven’t seen The Nun II yet (I’ll watch it when it gets a digital release this week), but Hell Fest was a fun slasher and Cooper earned “cool points” from when we she contributed to the insanity of Malignant and was disappointed that the bloodshed she imagined for M3GAN was left out of the theatrical version of the film so it could secure a PG-13 rating. I also liked this quote she gave the Los Angeles Times about bringing back wild, gory, fun horror films: “For so long, everyone was doing ‘elevated horror.’ Even going out and pitching, I would have people say, ‘We like it, but it’s too gory. It’s not elevated.’ An exec who read one of my specs and really liked it said, ‘It’s gory and no one’s doing gore right now. We have to wait for a horror movie that has gore to come out and be a hit, and then the market will shift.’ I was sitting there, like, ‘OK … we could lead that charge.’ Now I’m [hearing], ‘There’s gore, and it’s not a problem.’ I’m happy that I could have a hand in bringing back fun horror that doesn’t take itself so seriously. I’m reading about more horror movies that are wild, out-there ideas coming out or being bought. And some of them are original, which is good! I’m happy that I could steer that ship so that studio execs can be like, ‘Oh! There might actually be money in them thar hills.’“

Now we’ll just have to wait and see if It’s Over turns out to be wild, gory, and/or fun.