Scott Derrickson, director of “The Black Phone” and “Doctor Strange,” will team with his writing partner C. Robert Cargill to adapt Davis Grubb’s thriller novel “The Night of the Hunter,” which was previously made into one of the all-time classic film noirs in 1955 by Charles Laughton.
“The Night of the Hunter” follows the amoral, murderous ex-con Harry Powell, who disguises himself as a prison chaplain and murders the widow of his dead cellmate in an effort to find the money he hid from their last robbery. The widow’s children, John and Pearl, who know where the money is hidden, go on the run as Harry vows to hunt them down.
Derrickson and Cargill will co-write the screenplay. Peter Gethers will produce through his KramMar Delicious Mystery Productions, and Amy Pascal will produce through her Pascal Pictures first-look deal with Universal Pictures.
Making a name for themselves in Hollywood through horror, Derrickson and Cargill got their first big taste of blockbuster filmmaking with the 2016 Marvel film “Doctor Strange.” After departing the film’s sequel due to creative differences, the duo arrived at Universal with the 2021 film “The Black Phone,” which was a critical and commercial low-budget horror hit with $161 million grossed at the global box office.
Derrickson and Cargill have also signed on to direct a sequel to “The Black Phone,” which they will begin development on after completion of the Apple TV+ action film “The Gorge” starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, which is currently in post-production.
Cargill and Derrickson are represented by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. The Davis Grubb Estate is represented by Murray Weiss of Catalyst Literary Management.
