Fifteen months after we first heard that John Lee Hancock (The Highwaymen) would be writing and directing an adaptation of the Stephen King story Mr. Harrigan’s Phone for Netflix, the project is now heading into production. With cameras about to star rolling, Deadline reports that Donald Sutherland and Jaeden Martell have signed on to star in the film.
Sutherland and Martell both already have experience working on King adaptations. Sutherland played Richard Straker in the 2004 mini-series version of Salem’s Lot, while Martell was the young Bill Denbrough in It and It: Chapter Two.
The story Mr. Harrigan’s Phone was included in King’s book If It Bleeds, which you can buy at THIS LINK. It centers on
a teenager who befriends and does odd jobs for a retired, older man. After a lotto ticket which the man gave the teenager pays off, he buys Mr. Harrigan his first smart phone. When Mr. Harrigan passes away, the teenager places the phone in the older man’s pocket before he’s buried, but is later shocked when he recieves a text from beyond the grave.
Don’t like that synopsis? Try this one:
Craig, a young boy living in a small town, befriends an older, reclusive billionaire Mr. Harrigan. The two form a bond over books and an iPhone, but when the man passes away, the boy discovers that not everything dead is gone, and finds himself able to communicate with his friend from the grave through the iPhone that was buried with him.
As you may have guessed, Martell is playing Craig and Sutherland is Mr. Harrigan.
Jason Blum is producing Mr. Harrigan’s Phone with Ryan Murphy and Carla Hacken. Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold, and Scott Greenberg serve as executive producers.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is expected to be released through the Netflix streaming service sometime in 2022.