Holland and King have previously collaborated on the popular thrillers The Langoliers and Thinner.
After an extended hiatus, Holland returned to directing in 2007 as a featured director in the acclaimed Masters of Horror series for Showtime. Currently he is writing and directing Twisted Tales, a series of shorts for FEARnet.
Kings The Ten OClock People was a short story published in 1993 as part of his Nightmares and Dreamscapes collection and was notable for being set in Boston, Massachusetts as opposed to his familiar Maine locale. The story follows Brandon Pearson, who in trying to kick his smoking habit uncovers a frightening aspect of reality, he plans to extinguish through extreme measures.
Inspired by his own struggle with kicking the habit, [this story] was Stephen trying to deal with his cigarette jones and the fairly new no-smoking laws back in the 90s. This film will be a modernization of the original short story, a paranoid suspense piece, commented Holland.
With Ron Howards The Dark Tower adaptation and remakes of Carrie and The Stand on the horizon, 2013 is shaping up to be the year of King,” said producers Nathaniel Kramer and E.J. Meyers. “Were excited to be contributing to it.
The Ten OClock People will begin filming this summer and is produced by Making Ten OClock Productions and Hollands Dead Rabbit Films.