‘The Conjuring’ Director Developing Stephen King’s ‘The Tommyknockers’ Adaptation

Some of the biggest names in the world of horror are coming together to potentially deliver audiences an all-new frightening adaptation of Stephen King‘s The Tommyknockers. Director of The Conjuring and Insidious James Wan is teaming up with Roy Lee, producer of last year’s IT, in hopes of finding the perfect home for an adaptation of the story.

In the 1987 horror/sci-fi story, “On a beautiful June day, while walking deep in the woods on her property in Haven, Maine, Bobbi Anderson quite literally stumbles over her own destiny and that of the entire town. For the dull gray metal protrusion she discovers in the ground is part of a mysterious and massive metal object, one that may have been buried there for millennia. Bobbi can’t help but become obsessed and try to dig it out…the consequences of which will affect and transmute every citizen of Haven, young and old. It means unleashing extraordinary powers beyond those of mere mortals—and certain death for any and all outsiders. An alien hell has now invaded this small New England town…an aggressive and violent malignancy devoid of any mercy or sanity…”

The story was previously adapted into a miniseries in 1993 starring Jimmy Smits and Marg Helgenberger, which earned huge ratings, leading to a surge of made-for-TV adaptations of King’s work in the ’90s. One of that adaptation’s producers, Larry Sanitsky, reached out to studios and streaming services in hopes of moving the project forward.

“It is an allegorical tale of addiction (Stephen was struggling with his own at the time), the threat of nuclear power, the danger of mass hysteria and the absurdity of technical evolution run amuck,” Sanitsky’s statement read. “All are as relevant today as the day the novel was written. It is also a tale about the eternal power of love and the grace of redemption.”

Wan, Lee, and Sanitsky would all be involved in producing the project.

Between last year’s IT going on to gross over $700 million worldwide and the debut of multiple King-inspired TV series, the project coming to fruition seems like almost a certainty.

The initial hardcover release of the story was one of the author’s most successful, selling more copies than the initial runs of both The Shining and IT.

Stay tuned for details about the upcoming adaptation.

Would you be interested in seeing this adaptation happen? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T The Hollywood Reporter]