Universal has optioned the Eisner Award-winning comic series Locke And Key for a feature film. This news comes two years after Fox passed on a promising TV series based on the comic by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Internet law requires I mention Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son, or else I’ll be eaten by Langoliers.
Locke And Key tells of three siblings who, after the gruesome murder of their father, move to their ancestral home in Massachusetts. They soon discover the house has magical keys that give the bearers a vast array of powers and abilities. However, a devious creature is also after the keys, forcing the family to make a stand against evil. The stories expanded to tell a bi-generational coming-of-age tale that encompasses heroism and tragedy and thrills and chills. [The Hollywood Reporter]
All we know about the film development so far is that there are six producers — Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Bobby Cohen, Jon Mone, Jay Polidoro, and Ben Kim — and they hope developing Locke And Key as a film instead of a lower-budget TV show will give it “the ample canvas it needs.”
Here are two panels from the comic, if you’ve never read it. We like the Calvin and Hobbes vibe to these.
[Pictures courtesy Gabriel Rodriguez.]