This weekend, audiences will finally be able to check out the Richard Stanley helmed adaption of H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘Color Out of Space,’ but that is only the beginning. Last year we learned that SpectreVision was planning on releasing a trilogy of Lovecraft films with ‘Color Out of Space’ being the first film in the set. Now Stanley has confirmed that ‘The Dunwich Horror’ will be the second installment. While the third and final film of this trilogy has yet to be revealed, ‘The Dunwich Horror’ is going to be taking Lovecraft fans into one of the central stories of the author’s mythos.
While talking with Rue Morgue, the director shared:
“I’m pleased to say that SpectreVision has basically greenlit two more Lovecraft adaptations, and I’m currently prepping my new adaptation of ‘The Dunwich Horror. It will be set in the same milieu as COLOR OUT OF SPACE, in a near-future, disaster-struck Arkham County. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get that before the cameras this winter.”
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This movie will be the third adaptation of ‘Dunwich Horror.’ There was a film in 1970 and in 2009, Syfy decided to do their own take. However, both of these weren’t quite true to the original story. As Stanley is set to make this a spiritual sequel to ‘Color Out of Space,’ we know that he will want to try and keep it as close to the original as possible.
“The brief is the same: to try to do the original story justice and at the same time continue to open up the universe. With DUNWICH HORROR, we’ll go on campus and get back to Miskatonic University for the first time since RE-ANIMATOR. We’ll also get to deal with the Necronomicon, the black book at the core of the mythos. So I’m very much looking forward to getting my hands on this.”
What might he be changing? Well, this one is a spoiler, so I am giving you a warning now and not putting it in a giant quote for anyone just browsing the news. There is one character who will tie these films together, and “It’s my intention to have Ward Phillips from Miskatonic University [played by Elliot Knight in COLOR] be the sole continuing character through the next two installments.”
At this time, he wouldn’t go into detail about the third film but is quite excited about Lovecraft’s work heading to the big and small screen:
“All of Lovecraft’s work is in the public domain, so anyone is entitled to adapt pretty much any of the core stories. What we’re already seeing right now is the beginnings of, I think, a sort of incursion of Lovecraft’s Old Ones into mainstream culture. Jordan Peele’s LOVECRAFT COUNTRY is about to hit, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have thrown their hats into the arena by saying they’re going to make a Lovecraft movie. I’d like to see Guillermo del Toro’s AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS or the James Wan CALL OF CTHULHU get made, but at the same time, if they’re not, then they’re fair game.”
I’m quite eager to see Stanley’s take on ‘Color Out of Space’ and ‘The Dunwich Horror.’ I think that the very idea of seeing the Lovecraft mythos tied together across multiple films could be fantastic if done right.
Will you be checking out ‘Color Out of Space’ this weekend? Are you glad that ‘The Dunwich Horror’ will be the second film in this trilogy? Which of H.P. Lovecraft’s novels would you like to tie it all together? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
