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It’s a good time to be Stephen King! A remake of his iconic story ‘Carrie’ will be released in March, he’s been working on adapting his novel ‘11/23/63’ with producer/director Jonathan Demme (‘Manchurian Candidate,’ ‘A Gifted Man’), the novel ’10 O’Clock People’ is being adapted into a film and just this past week it was announced that Jason Blum (‘Sinister,’ ‘Insidious,’ ‘Paranormal Activity’) will be adapting his short story, ‘Gramma,’ into a feature film. Now it’s being reported that another one of his novels, ‘Cell,’ has moved forward in the development process and has signed John Cusack (‘The Raven,’ ‘2012,’ ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’) to star.

This isn’t the first time Cusack has worked with King. He appeared in the 1986 film ‘Stand by Me’ as Denny Lachance and starred in the horror film ‘1408.’ In ‘Cell,’ Cusack will play Clayton Riddell, the father/hero of the movie who tries to get back to his wife and son after an unexpected pulse gets broadcast over the cellular phone network changing those who were using their cells at the time into mindless zombie killers.

Here’s a synopsis of the book:

Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way. Fortunately for Clay, he does not own a cell phone. In the panic to get out of Boston and find his way home to his wife and son in Maine, he is joined by Tom McCourt, a man he meets in the meleé immediately following The Pulse and a young girl, Alice, who they rescue from being killed by one of the “crazies.” The story follows their terrifying journey, avoiding capture—and worse—by the “crazies” who are beginning to “flock” and are led by one they call Raggedy Man as they attempt to reach Maine and a place called Kashwak which they hope will be their salvation.

King co-wrote the screenplay with Adam Alleca (‘Last House on the Left’) which was to be made into a movie with Eli Roth (‘Harker,’ ‘Hemlock Grove,’ ‘Grindhouse’), but when Roth ditched the project, writer John Harrison tried to develop it into a TV miniseries. Unfortunately nothing came of that. Now it looks like the project is once again moving forward as a feature film.

Richard Sapersten, who produced ‘1408’ will also be on hand to produce ‘Cell’ and commented about the addition of Cusack:

“I’m thrilled to be working with Stephen and John again. ‘Cell’ is an intelligent psychological thriller that delivers on both a visceral and emotional level.”

Marina Grasic, CEO of Cargo Entertainment, the company financing the project added:

“Stephen King is a legendary storyteller and the master at this genre. We believe the reteaming of King with Cusack is a winning combination that audiences around the world will want to see.”

A director for ‘Cell’ is expected to be announced soon.
Source: Screen Daily