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'Buried' Director Heading 'Down a Dark Hall' for Young Adult Thriller

by Ethan Anderton
August 4, 2014
Source: The Wrap

After launching his career from underground with Buried, and faltering slightly with the supernatural Red Lights, director Rodrigo Cortés is heading into young adult territory. The Wrap reports Lionsgate has picked up the rights to I Know What You Did Last Summer author Lois Duncan's thriller Down a Dark Hall, adapted by Buried writer Chris Sparling. However, unlike the studio's successful run with The Hunger Games and their sister company Summit Entertainment's Divergent and Twilight franchises, this young adult novel comes from 1974. Funnily enough, author Stephenie Meyer will be producing the film.

For those not familiar with the book, here's the official synopsis:

Kit Gordy sees Blackwood Hall towering over black iron gates, and she can't help thinking, This place is evil. The imposing mansion sends a shiver of fear through her. But Kit settles into a routine, trying to ignore the rumors that the highly exclusive boarding school is haunted.

Then her classmates begin to show extraordinary and unknown talents. The strange dreams, the voices, the lost letters to family and friends, all become overshadowed by the magic around them. When Kit and her friends realize that Blackwood isn't what it claims to be, it might be too late.

Meyer is producing with Meghan Hibbett and their Fickle Fish Films banner, and the thriller adaptation will also reteam them with The Twilight Saga producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen at Temple Hill Entertainment, fresh off their success with The Fault in Our Stars. Lionsgate certainly seems to be doing a good job of cornering the young adult market an reeling in the coveted younger demographics to see their feature film adaptations. But this might be a little bit of a risk with such an old book as the source material, as opposed to a contemporary best-seller. Anyone interested?

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