Way back in 2015, Cube and Splice director Vincenzo Natali revealed he was working on an adaptation of Stephen King and Joe Hill’s bleak, eerie novella In the Tall Grass, but details have been scant since then. Well, this being a renaissance for all things King, the project has finally found legs. Deadline reports that Netflix has acquired the film, which may very well star Westworld hunk James Marsden, who is currently in negotiations.
A brutal, uncompromising read, In the Tall Grass follows a brother and sister who hear a young boy’s cry for help and search for him in a vast field of grass in Kansas. Soon, they realize that the grass is a world unto itself and that there’s more than just a scared kid in there. It gets even darker than you might imagine.
This marks Netflix’s third dalliance with King, having released last year’s excellent adaptations of Gerald’s Game and 1922. It’s also the second collaboration between King and Hill, his oldest son, to be heading for the big screen. Last year, we reported on a forthcoming adaptation of the duo’s Throttle, which is currently being developed by Maggie scribe John Scott III. King is also teaming with his other son, Owen, for a TV adaptation of the pair’s recent novel Sleeping Beauties. Hill, meanwhile, just saw his novel NOS4A2 score a 10-episode order from AMC.
As for King’s solo work, adaptations of Pet Sematary, The Long Walk, The Tommyknockers, The Stand, and The Bone Church are all in development, as is a sequel to last year’s It and an as-yet-announced Dark Tower series from Amazon.
As always, you can enjoy in-depth analysis and news on all things King by listening to our very own The Losers’ Club podcast.
