Summit Entertainment is set to remake the Dutch supernatural thriller Zwart Water (“Black Water”) with Scott Derrickson directing and Charlize Theron starring. Derrickson wrote the new version with Paul Boardman.
The film will be produced Theron and Beth Kono via their Denver and Delilah Films banner. Elbert Van Strien and Claudia Brandt are executive producing with Denver and Deliliahs JJ Harris.
The original, carrying the title of Two Eyes Staring in North America, is described as follows:
Nine-year-old Lisa has always thought that her mother, Christine, looked at her like she was someone else. As a result, Lisa feels disconnected from her mother, but is very close to her father, Paul. When her maternal grandmother dies leaving the family a huge old house, Lisa and her parents move from Holland to Belgium. The house was Christine’s childhood home, but she had a falling out with her mother and hadn’t been back in years.
Moving to a new location can be a very traumatic experience for a nine-year-old girl. Lisa is lonely, bored and frankly a little bit put out (particularly with her mother) for putting her through the move. To ease the isolation, Lisa creates an imaginary friend to keep her company and join her on her explorations of the large, old house. Her parents aren’t terrifically concerned about this development. Lisa has always had an active imagination and actually left an old imaginary friend back in Holland.
When her invisible friend starts to explain secrets about her mother’s childhood and her previously unmentioned twin sister, however, the fabric starts to unravel in this small family unit. Tensions increase, Lisa’s behavior becomes erratic and potentially dangerous, and nuances are unearthed about Christine’s childhood secrets that cast them in a very sinister light.
Theron will be seen next in Young Adult as well as Snow White and the Huntsman and Prometheus. Derrickson is currently working on an untitled horror thriller for Summit and most recently co-wrote The Exorcism of Emily Rose with Boardman which Derrickson also directed. Derrickson’s other directing credits include The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Erik Feig, Summit’s President of Production, and Geoff Shaevitz, Summit’s Senior Vice President of Production, will oversee the project for the studio.
(Photo Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / WENN.com)
