Philip K. Dick’s short story The Crawlers is getting the big screen treatment with Jason Lapeyre (I Declare War) helming the project from a script penned by Kalen Egan and Travis Sentell. Isa Dick – the author’s daughter – will produce with her company Electric Shepard Productions alongside Edward R. Pressman of Pressman Film according to The Wrap.
It’s classic small-town monster movie territory mixed with some good old Texas noir horror. Set in the 1960s, the story follows a young government land-surveyor as he strolls off course into Boyle, Texas. Upon arriving and speaking to some of the suspicious and secretive residents, he decides to investigate further and follow a trail of disturbing rumors, which reveals something terrifying. By unveiling the town’s history, he learns that the local townspeople aren’t the only residents of Boyle.
It sounds like a barrel of B movie fun and by the looks of things there are going oldschool with the effects hiring contemporary visual artist Patricia Piccinini to design the creatures alongside Emmy-winning makeup artist & creature designer Steve Johnson who worked on the last War of the Worlds. Johnson will be taking care of the visuals and creature effects with his partner, filmmaker Robert L Lucas and their team at Brick and Mortar Productions.
Pressman spoke a little about the project and had this to say:
“As a long-time fan of Philip K. Dick’s storytelling, I am honored to partner with his daughter, Isa, to bring this unique piece of his work to the screen,” said Pressman. “Jason Lapeyre’s vision combined with artist Patricia Piccinini’s haunting designs and Steve Johnson’s special effects savvy makes this the perfect team to do the job.”
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with extraordinary independent filmmaker Ed Pressman to produce ‘The Crawlers,’” said Hackett. “His contributions elevate this project in every way. ‘The Crawlers,’ a psychological horror film in the tradition of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and ‘Don’t Look Now,’ is the first horror film based on my father’s work. His grand theme around what it means to be human is fully examined in this dark and poignant tale.”
Johnson spoke a little on the creating the creatures out of a combination of both practical effects and digital FX:
“Brick and Mortar is thrilled to have the opportunity to develop a never-before-seen hybrid of both practical and digital FX to bring the creatures to life.”
Pressman had previously been working on ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ starring Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, Chappie) and Jeremy Irons (Die Hard With A Vengeance, The Man in the Iron Mask), and he is also at the development stages of adapting Edward Abbey’s book The Monkey Wrench Gang, which Catfish filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman will write and direct. Pressman also has a reboot of The Crow (…yes really …that is still going ahead), a remake of Bloodsport (…just stop. Please!), which will be helmed by James McTeigue, and he also has the Al Pacino starring Drama vehicle about the late Penn State football coach Joe Peterno. The bloke is certainly a busy man.
Hacket, who is the founder and CEO of Electric Sheperd Productions worked on The Adjustment Bureau as an executive producer (which was based on one of her father’s – K. Dick – short stories. Hacket is also working on the television pilot The Man In The High Castle, that her company is co-producing with Ridley Scott’s Scott Free company for Amazon Studios.
Lapeyre is a particularly good choice to direct Crawlers as he has proved he can do gritty noir-esque thriller with his directorial debut Cold Blooded with won Best Canadian Film at Fantasia back in 2012. His follow-up I Declare War, was an official selection at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and also won the Audience Award for Best Film the same year. Subsequently, Drafthouse Films picked it up and released it theatrically to critical acclaim.
Needless to say there is a lot of talent on board for this film and it should provide the goods just going by the synopsis – just like ronseal. As always fellow Nersters, we will keep you posted on the development of this project.
Source: The Wrap
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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