Netflix wins bidding war for The Unsound, David F. Sandberg to direct
Deadline has brought word that after a bidding war between multiple studios, Netflix has won the rights to a film adaptation of the BOOM! Studios graphic novel The Unsound. In addition, Shazam! and Lights Out director David F. Sandberg has signed on to helm the film.
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The film, based on the graphic novel from Cullen Bunn and Jack T. Cole, follows a psychiatrist who returns to the insane asylum where her mother is a patient and a former employee. As she falls into a rabbit hole of dark truths from her past, she comes to understand the hospital is hiding secrets. In order to stop the bloody horror that’s been unleashed, she will have to confront the fact her and her mother have more in common than she’s realized.
Skylar James, writer for the BloodListed 29 Mole Street, is attached to pen the script while Sandberg and his longtime collaborator/wife Lotta Lotsen are set to produce through their new production company Mångata alongside BOOM! Studios’ Ross Richie and Stephen Christy. Adam Yoelin and James are also attached as executive producers.
BOOM! Studios is best known for their library of comic book IP outside of Marvel and DC and while they have adapted numerous film franchises into comics, they have yet to see many of their original works come to life on the big screen, the most notable being the 2013 action comedy 2 Guns starring Mark Wahlberg (Patriots Day) and Denzel Washington (The Equalizer). They are currently working with Disney, who inherited the minor stake in the company from Fox following the merger, to develop Imagine Agents for the big screen, with Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) set to direct.
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After directing a number of shorts in his homeland Sweden, Sandberg made his feature-length directorial debut with the Hollywood adaptation of his short film Lights Out, which opened to strong reviews from critics and audiences alike and grossed over $148 million at the box office off of its $4.9 million budget. He continued his foray into the horror genre with the well-received Annabelle: Creation, which currently sits as the best-reviewed in the Conjuring spin-off series and grossed over $306.5 million at the box office on a $15 million budget.
While a sequel is still in the works for Lights Out with Sandberg reportedly set to return as co-writer/director, he took a break from the horror genre to bring Shazam! to life. Though it was the lowest earner at the box office of the DC Extended Universe, it was still a success, bringing in over $364 million on an estimated $100 million budget and sitting as the second-best reviewed entry in the superhero franchise behind Wonder Woman.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
