Sporror: New genre combines sports and horror
In what is one of the odder announcements that ended up crossing our desk today, Gunpowder & Sky, the global content studio, has just announced that it has partnered with Mandalay Sports Media to create a new category of filmed entertainment: Sporror.
Yes, Sporror. The companies also revealed the first film in the genre will be called Lucky Number. Make of this what you will.
Lucky Number, to be written by Aaron Cooley (Shaken Not Stirred, The Campaigners), is the first in a new series of horror films set in and starring celebrities from the world of sports. The story centers around a pro basketball superstar who must pay up on a deal he made with the devil, transforming into the most athletic — and frightening — killer in cinematic history.
Tollin and Jon Weinbach, Mandalay Sports Media’s executive vice-president, are executive producers on the project, with Toffler serving as EP for Gunpowder & Sky. Pro athletes, many of whom are horror fans, will appear in Lucky Number and ensuing Sporror films. The companies are currently meeting with potential directors.
“There are few places more frightening than a dark, empty arena, and the sports landscape is full of strange and authentically frightening characters,” said Weinbach, whose producing credits include the ESPN 30for30 documentaries Sole Man and Straight Outta LA. “We’ve never seen a mash-up between horror and sports, where everything from a hockey skate to a nacho cheese vat can be dangerous – or even deadly.”
I checked the calendar. This is not April 1st. This is real. Witness the birth of SPORROR!
