Is the third time the charm for Locke & Key to finally be made into a TV show or movie? After multiple false starts on both platforms, including a pilot shot and screened in 2011 that was almost universally loved by those who were lucky enough to see it and a potential film first discussed in 2013, Locke & Key is supposedly heading back to television as a miniseries. The previous attempt at a television adaptation would have been helmed by some of the same group that eventually launched Sleepy Hollow. Based on the epic rollercoaster of quality that series has gone through over the year, it may be a blessing in disguise that FOX’s possible series eventually fell apart.
For those who are not familiar with the popular horror comic book, Locke and Key revolves around a group of siblings who return to their childhood Massachusetts home after the death of their father. (Author Joe Hill is the son of famed horror writer Stephen King and has produced a similarly scary body of work, although Hill’s stories replace his father’s favored Maine setting with his home state of Massachusetts. As someone who calls Massachusetts her home state, trust me that the location change doesn’t take any of the scares out of the reading experience.) After their return to their house, the titular Locke siblings find keys in the house that provide them with supernatural abilities. However, there is an enemy at work who is after the keys and their powers which forces the kids to face off against the evil entity.
This adaptation doesn’t have a home on television yet, but the creative team is set and ready to go. Joe Hill will serve as Executive Producer and write at least the pilot episode. Hill has a good idea of why exactly the story works best as a TV show, so it is good he will be influencing the series as at least an EP as it makes its journey from the page to the screen.
“I love this story,” said Hill. “The seven years I spent working on Locke & Key was the happiest creative experience of my life and there still isn’t a day when I don’t think about those characters and miss visiting with them. The six books of the series are very like six seasons of a cable TV series and so it feels only natural to bring that world to the little screen and to see if we can’t scare the pants off viewers everywhere.”
We will have to make sure we’re wearing extra belts when watching each and every episode. In addition to Hill, Ted Adams and David Ozer (IDW Entertainment) and David Alpert and Rick Jacobs (Circle of Confusion) will also executive produce. Locke and Key is going straight to series – none of that pesky pilot rejection this time around! – but doesn’t have a network or an estimated premiere date just yet. Stay tuned for any developments and take another perusal of the comic to prepare for the screen adaptation in the meantime.
