H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘Herbert West: Reanimator’ Getting Feature Redo From ‘Haunting In Connecticut’ Scribes

See the original press release here.

EXCLUSIVE: Haunting in Connecticut screenwriters Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe are adapting a contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator. 

Herbert West: Reanimator, written in the early 1920s, centers on West, a brilliant but mercurial physician who’s rabid obsession and pursuit of life extension succeeds to a horrifying effect. 

Alton, IL-based production and finance shingle Woodlake Entertainment is fully financing the project.  Multi-Emmy-nominated artist and producer Jeffrey Lewis and Keith Previte will produce for Woodlake, with the Lovecraft adaptation the first in series of elevated genre pics the company plans to develop and finance.

“We are very excited for Woodlake and the amazing team assembled to reinvent this classic horror literature into a contemporary frightening feature film,” said Lewis, the owner of Woodlake.

Woodlake principals John Simmons and Roger Lewis will executive produce with Andrew Trapani (Winchester). 

Simon, Metcalfe and Trapani previously collaborated on the 2009 Lionsgate hit The Haunting in Connecticut, which grossed more than $77 million worldwide off a $10M production cost; opened to a robust $23M stateside in March of that year. The Peter Cornwell-directed feature follows a family that is forced to relocate for their son’s health. They begin experiencing supernatural behavior in their new home and uncover a sinister history.

Simon is repped by Circle Management + Production, Innovative Artists, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Metcalfe is also repped by Innovative Artists and Goodman Genow.