With cult horror success Oculus under his belt, prolific writer/director Mike Flanagan isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. He has two more films churning through post-production, others waiting in the wings and he’s now made a deal to direct a thriller based on Stephen King novel **Gerald’s Game.
Flanagan had a leg up on the script already, as he co-wrote it with regular screenplay partner Jeff Howard. The story follows what happens when Gerald and Jessie Burlingame head to their secluded holiday cabin in the hopes of romantic time off. Gerald ends up accidentally dead after a kinky sex game goes wrong, and Jessie, handcuffed to the bed, starts to hear strange voices and experience weird visitations that have her revisiting parts of her life.
With the rights in place and Intrepid Pictures fronting the money to make the movie (while also selling distribution rights at Cannes), Flanagan is pushing aside another project he intended to make, Diver, to push ahead with the Game.
“In the tradition of Misery and Dolores Claiborne, Gerald’s Game is one of the most intense and compelling novels I’ve ever read, and this has been a dream project for many years. Trevor and I are very excited to help translate that experience for an audience,” he said in a statement picked up by Deadline. He’ll start casting now and is looking to start shooting in the autumn.
Oculus reaches UK screens on June 13, and that will be followed by fellow horror Somnia and another film, documentary American Marriage, which should both arrive next year.