Nearly fifty years after it was first published, Stephen King’s short story The Boogeyman is finally being adapted as a live-action film. Deadline is reporting that The Boogeyman is going forward as a Hulu original movie produced by Disney’s 20th Century Studios division. Additionally, Sophie Thatcher has been cast in one of the film’s leading roles.
King first published The Boogeyman in 1973 in Cavalier magazine before collecting it with other short stories in 1978’s Night Shift anthology. In the original story, a man named Lester Billings speaks with his psychiatrist, Dr. Harper, about the brutal murders of his children at the hands of a monster they called “Boogeyman.” The film’s story will follow a teenage girl and her brother who are grieving the death of their mother. However, the children are also haunted “by a sadistic presence in their house,” and they are desperately trying to get their emotionally numb father to recognize the threat before it claims all of their lives.
Thatcher is one of the breakout stars of Showtime’s newest hit, Yellowjackets. In the series, Thatcher plays Natalie, a role she shares with Juliette Lewis in the present-day sequences. Thatcher also has a supporting role in Disney+’s Star Wars original series The Book of Boba Fett as Drash, the leader of a teenage gang of cyborgs.
Deadline is also reporting that Chris Messina will co-star in The Boogeyman as well. Messina’s previous credits include HBO’s Sharp Objects, The Sinner season 3, Six Feet Under, Damages, The Newsroom, and The Mindy Project. Messina and Thatcher’s specific roles in The Boogeyman weren’t disclosed, but presumably, they will portray the father and daughter in this story.
Rob Savage will direct The Boogeyman from a script by Mark Heyman. Production is expected to begin in March.
