Variety has brought word that Hulu is partnering up with The Orville producer Brannon Braga to adapt Clive Barker’s horror anthology novels Books of Blood into a feature-length film. Braga, who is best known for his work on the Star Trek franchise, will make his directorial debut on the movie.
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Consisting of six books published between 1984-85, the anthology which mostly covered the horror genre with the occasional fantasy element mixed in, received rave reviews from critics and readers alike, with legend Stephen King calling Barker the “future of horror.” Some of the film’s individual stories have already been adapted for the big and small screen, namely “The Forbidden,” which became the cult classic Candyman, and The Midnight Meat Train.
Braga is set to co-write, executive produce and direct in his feature debut with The Girlfriend Experience‘s Anna Friel, Under the Dome‘s Britt Robertson, Godfather of Harlem‘s Rafi Gavron and Russian Doll‘s Yul Vazquez all signed on to star in the film. Adam Simon, co-creator of WGN’s Salem, is also attached to co-write the project, which will blend together three tales from the books in an overarching narrative that also features original material.
Friel is attached to play Mary, a brilliant psychologist who has gained fame as a skeptic debunking theories and beliefs not based in science who is struggling with the loss of her 7-year-old son to leukemia and has a change of heart when her new lover Simon convinces her he can speak her dead son. Robertson is attached as Jenna, a hypersensitive girl who suffers from “misphonia,” an abhorrence of sound, and sets out for Los Angeles when she learns her mother is about to send her back to the “Farm.”
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Gavron will star as Simon, a charismatic young man who begins a relationship with Mary and convinces her he is a ghost whisperer and can speak for her dead son. Vazquez will portray Bennett, a professional killer who’s latest target tells him of a priceless book that will allow him and his wife to retire, only to come across supernatural threats in his journey for the book.
The film is expected to premiere in late 2020.
