When the news broke last year that Host and DASHCAM director Rob Savage was taking on Stephen King’s The Boogeyman for his next project, we were pretty excited. With this casting news, that excitement just went up a notch. Deadline reported last night that the adaptation of the King’s spooky short story will star Chris Messina (recently seen in I Care A Lot and Birds Of Prey) and Sophie Thatcher, who takes this on after her breakout role as young Natalie in Showtime’s King-esque, supernaturally-inclined Yellowjackets.
King’s original short story was a truly creepy one, following a man called Lester Billings who visits a psychiatrist to recount how his children were murdered by the titular Boogeyman. It also follows a teenage brother and sister grieving the tragic death of their mother. Their roles haven’t been confirmed, but chances are that Messina will play Billings, with Thatcher taking the role of the young girl.
The Boogeyman is a 20th Century Studios production, and is confirmed to debut on Hulu (likely Star on Disney+ here in the UK) rather than theatrically. The script, after having gone through various iterations, is now penned by Black Swan writer Mark Heyman, and production is expected to start on the film next month.