The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that the long-in-the-works adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s horror novel My Best Friend’s Exorcism is in full swing at Endeavor Content, with Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade) headlining an ensemble cast that includes Amiah Miller (War for the Planet of the Apes), Cathy Ang (Over the Moon) and Rachel Ogechi Kanu, the latter making her feature debut. Fisher will portray Abby, a high school sophomore who suspects her best friend Gretchen (Miller) may be demonically possessed. The movie is now in production, and is expected to land at Amazon Studios as a negative pickup.
The demon has been summoned and now the world shall know…https://t.co/qDBFu3NfR6
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) April 9, 2021
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Long-time TV director Damon Thomas (Penny Dreadful, Killing Eve) will make his feature directorial debut after 18 years of directing episodic TV and TV movies. Based on author Grady Hendrix’s horror novel of the same name, the film will be produced by Happy Death Day writer and director Christopher Landon.
Described as Beaches meets Heathers meets The Exorcist, My Best Friend’s Exorcism is set in 1988 and followed the relationship of two best friends, Abby and Gretchen. After an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act abnormally. As Abby slowly comes to believe her friend has become demonically possessed, both girls must soon face a tough question: is their friendship strong enough to beat the Devil?
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First published in 2016 by Quirk Books, Hendrix’s horror novel was named one of Paste Magazine’s 50 best horror novels of all-time. Hendrix will serve as a creative consultant on the film, with Jenna Lamia (Awkward, 90210) penning the screenplay. In addition to Christopher Landon and Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Quirk Books will also produce the film adaptation. This will be the first time that the book publisher, known for the titles Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, will be producing a movie. Endeavor Content (Killing Eve, Colette) will co-finance and handle worldwide sales.
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Grady Hendrix‘s novel Horrorstor is also being adapted for the big screen by Josh Schwartz and Gail Berman. Hendrix is best known for writing horror-centric novels such as The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, We Sold Our Souls and Paperbacks from Hell: The Twister History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction. The latter earned him a Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2018. He also wrote the screenplay for Satanic Panic, which starred Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell.
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