Soon after the release of A Quiet Place (watch it HERE), it was announced that screenwriters Scott Beck and Bryan Woods were writing a feature adaptation of the Stephen King short story The Boogeyman. That project is now set up at Hulu, and Host (watch that HERE) and Dashcam director Rob Savage has signed on to direct the film for the streaming service. Since Beck and Woods finished their draft, Akela Cooper (Malignant) has also worked on the script and now it’s being rewritten by Mark Heyman (Black Swan).
If this were a straightforward adaptation of King’s story, it would really tear the viewer’s heart out, because that story (which is in the Night Shift collection) was about a twenty-something father dealing with the loss of three young children and coming to believe they were killed by the legendary Boogeyman. The tragic deaths of infants and toddlers isn’t a marketable concept, so it makes sense that the synopsis for this take on The Boogeyman sounds very different from what King wrote:
Still reeling from the tragic death of their mother, a teenage girl and her little brother find themselves plagued by a sadistic presence in their house and struggle to get their grieving father to pay attention before it’s too late.
The Boogeyman is expected to go into production in New Orleans sometime in the winter / spring. Deadline is already describing this as “a two-hour film”.
Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps Entertainment, the producing company behind Stranger Things, are producing the project.
I started reading King books at a very young age, and happened to read The Boogeyman at a time when I could still somewhat believe the concept of a supernatural creature lurking in closets. It terrified me at that time, so I’ve always had a special appreciation for it. I’m sure the movie isn’t going to be anything like it, but I hope it turns out well.