THIS IS THE END star Jay Baruchel has signed on to star in and executive produce the film adaptation of Stephen King's short story THE TEN O'CLOCK PEOPLE, according to THR.
We've known for a while that FRIGHT NIGHT director Tom Holland was attached to helm, having also written the screenplay. At one point Justin Long was attached to star, but scheduling conflicts kept him from committing to the film, with CAPTAIN AMERICA star Chris Evans stepping in to replace Long in THE TEN O'CLOCK PEOPLE back in May of last year. Now it seems that Evans is out and Baruchel is in to take on the lead role of Brandon Pearson, a man attempting to give up smoking, only to find that the resulting chemical imbalance causes some interesting side effects.
The story tells of a smoker (Baruchel) who returns to his old habit with a cessation drug still in his system, triggering a side effect that reveals a frightening reality in which many people in authority are monsters.
THE TEN O'CLOCK PEOPLE first appeared in King's 1993 horror collection "Nightmares and Dreamscapes". Holland has been developing the project for a while and it almost came together several years ago with Justin Long and Rachel Nichols.
Industry veteran Don Carmody is producing.
Baruchel is exec producing with Borno, Karol, E.J. Meyers and Nathaniel Kramer.
Baruchel starred in last year’s acclaimed comedy THIS IS THE END and next appears with Joel Kinnaman and Michael Keaton in ROBOCOP, which opens February 14.