EXCLUSIVE: 47 Meters Down outfit Tea Shop Productions has signed writer-director Natasha Kermani (Lucky) to adapt and direct Locke & Key co-creator Joe Hill’s short story Abraham’s Boys as a feature film.
The action-horror story is a follow-up of sorts to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, testing the relationships Stoker formed in his original novel. The plot follows Max and Rudy Van Helsing, who know nothing of their father Abraham’s past and cannot understand his overprotective attitude and strange behavior. To make matters worse, Abraham is becoming increasingly more unhinged, paranoid, and violent.
Kermani’s adaptation is set to explore the boys’ trauma through the eyes of a young Asian woman who is no stranger to death.
The project will mark the third feature for Iranian American filmmaker Kermani, who last year played in SXSW with her genre film Lucky, which was picked up by Shudder.
Author Hill, the son of Stephen King, is known for novels The Fireman and Heart-Shaped Box. His comic book Locke & Key, co-created with artist Gabriel Rodriguez, became a hit on Netflix, while his third novel, NOS4A2, was adapted for TV by AMC. Several of his stories have been adapted for film including the upcoming Universal/Blumhouse movie The Black Phone.
London and Los Angeles-based genre specialist Tea Shop’s output has included box office hit 47 Meters Down and its sequel 47 Meters Down: Uncaged; The Informer starring Joel Kinnaman and Rosamund Pike; and Tower Block with Jack O’Connell.
“I’ve always loved Bram Stoker’s Dracula and was immediately drawn to Joe Hill’s unique and personal take on the legend of Van Helsing,” Kermani said. “Abraham’s Boys is an exciting opportunity to look at a familiar story through a new lens, and to explore classic characters and themes in a contemporary way.”
Tea Shop’s James Harris said: “I have always loved Joe’s short story, it has such an amazing tone and feel, so when we met Natasha we were blown away by how she wanted to approach it. Natasha is an exciting new filmmaker we are delighted to collaborate with.”
Kermani is represented by Talia Myers, Bec Smith and Julien Thuan at UTA and managed by Marc Manus at World Builder Entertainment. Hill is represented by Sean Daily and Jody Hotchkiss at Hotchkiss Daily & Associates for Film and Television.