Lionsgate acquires Down a Dark Hall with Rodrigo Cortes attached to direct

lionsgate acquires down a dark hall

LIONSGATE ACQUIRES YOUNG ADULT SUSPENSE THRILLER DOWN A DARK HALL FROM FICKLE FISH AND TEMPLE HILL ENTERTAINMENT

RODRIGO CORTÉS ATTACHED TO DIRECT FILM BASED ON LOIS DUNCAN BESTSELLER

Lionsgate has acquired rights to the project “Down a Dark Hall” which Rodrigo Cortés will direct.  The film is based on the 1974 young adult best-seller from author Lois Duncan (I Know What You Did Last Summer).  Screenwriter Michael Goldbach wrote the original adaptation for the screen, and Chris Sparling (Sea of TreesBuried) has come aboard to also write on the film.

Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight novels, and Meghan Hibbett will produce via their Fickle Fish Films along with Temple Hill Entertainment’s Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen.  Meyer optioned the book last year and brought on Goldbach to write the adaptation.

The supernatural suspense novel follows Kit Gordy, the newest student at the exclusive Blackwood Boarding School.  It is the opportunity of a lifetime, but Kit quickly realizes something strange is happening behind its walls as she confronts the darkly seductive powers of Blackwood’s headmistress and comes face to face with the supernatural powers that could make her great or destroy her.

Fickle Fish Films recently produced The Host, an adaptation of Meyer’s novel starring Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Jake Abel, Max Irons and William Hurt, directed by Andrew Niccol, which released March 2013 from Open Road Films as well as the film adaptation of the NY Times best-selling author Shannon Hale’s Austenland, directed by Jerusha Hess and starring Keri Russell, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, JJ Feild and Jane Seymour. Meyer previously produced both parts of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn which were distributed by Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment label.  The five films of The Twilight Saga grossed more than $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office.

Temple Hill Entertainment most recently produced Fox’s critically-acclaimed hit film The Fault in our Stars, starring Shailene Woodley and based on the John Green best-seller.  Temple Hill also produced the Twilight Saga film series.  Other credits include Dear JohnSafe HavenEverything Must Go and The Nativity Story.

Rodrigo Cortés directed Buried which starred Ryan Reynolds and premiered at Sundance where it sparked a bidding war and was bought by Lionsgate.  He subsequently directed the thriller Red Lights which starred Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy and Elizabeth Olsen.

Erik Feig, Co-President of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, Gillian Bohrer, Lionsgate’s EVP of Production & Development, and James Myers, Creative Executive at Lionsgate, are overseeing the project on behalf of the studio.  Robert Melnik, Lionsgate’s Executive Vice President of Business Affairs, negotiated the  deal on behalf of the studio.

Fickle Fish, Temple Hill, Sparling, Goldbach and Cortés are represented by UTA.  The book was represented by Jody Hotchkiss & Associates.

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