Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson has announced his latest horror project, and this time, it’s personal. Derrickson is teaming up with his wife, filmmaker Maggie Levin to adapt the widely acclaimed horror novel Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman. According to Variety, Derrickson will take on a producorial role on the adaptation of the novel under his Crooked Highway banner, while Levin will write and direct the project. Derrickson and Levin have collaborated before on horror hit The Black Phone, and given that both spouses have impressive horror resumes, Ghost Eaters will likely scare the bejesus out of us in all the best ways.
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Chapman’s novel Ghost Eaters was published back in 2022, and went on to make Vulture, Paste, and Crime Reads’ best horror books of the year. In the book, a grieving woman begins Ghost, a new drug that allows users to see the dead, in order to find closer with her late boyfriend. Yet the drug comes with a slew of unfathomable side effects, and once one takes it, they can never go back.
Derrickson and Levin Make Up a Horror Dream Team Bring Ghost Eaters to the Big Screen
Although Ghost Eaters is only in early development, we can’t think of a better pair to tackle a story that explores the intense, complicated dynamics of a relationship through a horror lens than Derrickson and Levin. Derrickson made quite a name for himself in the genre, helming The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister before bringing horror to the MCU via 2016’s Doctor Strange. Derrickson pushed the boundaries of what a Marvel movie could look like with Doctor Strange, introducing the supernatural side of the Universe along with a psychedelic, M.C. Escher-like visual language that still managed to bring wonder to a franchise with some of the biggest and extravagant fights a movie budget could buy.
Though Sam Raimi took over from him on Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (though he hasn’t ruled out another superhero film altogether), Derrickson has gone on to establish himself as one of the most sought-after horror filmmakers working today. Recent hits include The Gorge and surprise smash The Black Phone, whose sequel comes out in October of this year.
Ghost Eaters will likely be a much more intimate affair than a mystical MCU romp; however, Derrickson is perfectly suited for a project that deals with such intense psychological topics as grief and addiction, and we’re especially excited for Ghost Eaters since it will mark the feature directorial debut of Levin. Though she’s directed a bevy of shorts, several episodes of television, and served as Derrickson’s second unit director on both Black Phones, Ghost Eaters will be Levin’s first full-on feature bow since the project will be distributed by Screen Gems. While her entry into the Blumhouse/Hulu anthology series Into the Dark, “My Valentine,” received mixed reviews from critics, The Black Phone grossed $161 million against its mere $18 million budget.
It’s very likely that Derrickson, Levin, and Screen Gems will stick to a similar formula with Ghost Eaters — small budget, big potential.
