Now that “Tell Me Lies” is over, Jonathan Levine is onto his next project, and it’s an adaptation of a hit 2010s horror novel that’s long been in development.
THR reports that the director and executive producer of the Hulu series will helm and adapt “Horrorstör” over at Searchlight Pictures. Grady Hendrix‘s 2014 comedy-horror novel is set in an IKEA-esque superstore in Cleveland that’s a hotbed for paranormal weirdness. A group of night-shift employees to attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery, but what’s actually going on may be more twisted and sinister they initially realized…
Searchlight has had “Horrorstör” on the burner since Hendrix’s book first came out over a decade ago, but whether the adaptation would be a film or TV show wasn’t confirmed until now. An earlier TV adaptation for Fox would’ve had “Being John Malkovich” scribe Charlie Kaufman and “The O.C.” creator Josh Schwartz on board as executive producers, but that version stalled, with the rights landing at New Republic as a movie. It’s worth noting that between then and now, another one of Hendrix’s horror novels was adapted: “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” in 2022, released on Prime Video.
But enough background. “Horrorstör” will be Levine’s next film after biopic “Mr. Irrelevant,” starring David Corenswet as 1983 NFL draftee John Tuggle, a project he’s shooting now; that one will be his first feature since 2019’s “Long Shot.” Fans of Levine will know he’s done horror projects before, too. His directorial debut was the 2006 cult favorite “All The Boy Loves Mandy Lane,” and he also helmed 2013’s “Warm Bodies.” “Mr. Irrelevant” and “Horrorstör” mark a pivot back to film for Levine after roughly a half-decade working on small screen projects, like the aforementioned “Tell Me Lies” and “Nine Perfect Strangers.”
Producers on “Horrorstör” include Brian Oliver via New Republic, Gillian Bohrer from Megamix, Adam Goldworm of Aperture Entertainment, and Brad Fischer. Hendrix is also on board to executive produce the pic, along with Quirk Books. Richard Ruiz and Apolline Berty oversee “Horrorstör” for Searchlight, reporting to DanTram Nguyen and Katie Goodson-Thomas.
