Deadline is reporting that Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez’s comic book Locke and Key is about to get a one hour pilot episode from Hulu to be directed by Dr. Strange’s Scott Derrickson.
Also involved in the project is the producer of Bates Motel and The Strain Carlton Cuse, who “…developed Locke & Key with Hill who wrote the script on spec. The finished script was sent to one director, Derrickson, who came on board right away and, if the pilot goes to series, is expected to stay with the show for the first season and direct multiple episodes before segueing to the Doctor Strange sequel.” Cuse will also serve as showrunner if the pilot turns into a series.
Locke and Key hasn’t had an easy time being converted into a television series in recent years. The property has been attached to a number of networks and was even “…adapted during the 2010-11 development season when it reached the pilot stage at Fox with Josh Friedman writing, Mark Romanek directing, and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci producing alongside DreamWorks TV. While the pilot, starring Sarah Bolger, Miranda Otto and Nick Stahl, did not go to series, the title has remained a cult favorite, with Hill and IDW Entertainment last year announcing that they were taking a new stab at it for television. The unaired Fox pilot also screened at Comic-Con in 2011.”
Hopefully this time around, Locke and Key will get more than a pilot episode. The fact that Hulu and other streaming services are searching for original content with name recognition certainly can’t hurt Locke and Key’s chances this time.
The horror comic series was originally published in 2008 by IDW, beginning with the six part mini series “Welcome to Lovecraft”. Six other limited series followed with the last installment, “The Golden Age”, being published in 2016. The price of the original comic books and subsequent series have gone up in recent years, and the announcement of a new pilot is sure to raise prices even higher, so if you are unfamiliar with the series, the collected graphic novels editions may be the way to go.
Stay tuned to Horror News Network for more information on the pilot and potential Locke and Key series.
