Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele will produce a feature adaptation of Dylan Clark’s viral horror short “Portrait of God” for Universal Pictures. Clark will direct and co-write the film.
The project, co-written by “The Inheritance” screenwriter Joe Russo, marks the filmmakers’ first producing collab.
Clark is a genre filmmaker who has built a following in the YouTube horror space. He is not the Emmy-nominated producer behind “The Batman” and “The Penguin.”
“Portrait of God” has garnered over 8.6 million views on YouTube since premiering in August 2022.
Plot details for the feature adaptation are being kept under wraps. The short film follows a religious young woman who discovers the answer to the question, “What does God look like?” The story centers on a painting called “Portrait of God” that appears completely black to some viewers, while others claim to see a figure in the darkness.
Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld will produce through Monkeypaw’s first look deal with the studio. Chris Rosati, who brought the project to Monkeypaw, will executive produce. Kate Oh will oversee for Monkeypaw.
Sam Raimi and Romel Adam will produce through Ghost House Pictures. Jose Cañas will oversee for Ghost House.
Russo will produce, Sam Evenson will co-produce. Executive Vice President of Production Development Sara Scott will oversee the project for the Studio.
Clark is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, UTA and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis. Russo is repped by Untitled Entertainment, Fictional Entity, and Yorn Levine.
Raimi and Ghost House are repped by CAA and Stewart Brookman and Mahdi Salehi at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.
Deadline first reported the news.
