Mark Wahlberg has teamed up with producer Jason Blum to adapt "The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence", a buzzed-about New York magazine cover story by Ezra Marcus and James D. Walsh.
Blum’s Blumhouse Productions picked up the rights to the piece that appeared on the magazine's The Cut website, and will produce with Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson through the duo's Closest to the Hole Productions. Scoop Wasserstein of New York magazine is also attached to produce.
At this early stage of development, it is unclear whether the piece will be translated into a feature film or a limited series as Blumhouse sees potential for both, say sources. If the feature film route is taken, Wahlberg would star as Ray. However, the material could also make for a fascinating limited series, something along the lines of Blumhouse’s own HBO hit THE JINX. Only time will tell.
Published on April 28th, "Stolen Kids" told the story of a group of young women and men attending the prestigious liberal arts college of Sarah Lawrence who found themselves in the orbit of a charming but manipulative father of one of their classmates. The man, named Larry Ray, gets out of prison (for securities fraud and alleged domestic abuse), moves into his daughter’s dorm, and exerts greater and greater control over the impressionable young students, pushing them into uncomfortable sexual situations and ultimately turning them against their own parents in some cases.
The article closes with a couple of students escaping the man’s mental shackles even as others’ lives had been turned upside down.
Blum produced the Oscar nominated BLACKKKLANSMAN, as well as overseeing Jordan Peele's Best Picture Winner GET OUT and US, which made over $250 million worldwide. Blumhouse’s next release is the Octavia Spencer movie MA, which hits theaters on May 31.
Wahlberg and Levinson's Closest to the Hole last produced Paramount's family comedy INSTANT FAMILY as well as action movie MILE 22.