Sony Pictures has acquired in a competitive auction the rights to sci-fi thriller from “A Quiet Place” writers, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, and producer Sam Raimi.
Beck and Woods will write, direct and produce the untitled film based on their original script, all within their newly-formed production banner Beck/Woods. Raimi will also produce with Zainab Azizi for his Raimi Productions, as will Debbie Liebling.
Plot details for the Beck and Woods idea is being kept under wraps, but it’s said to have a “big twist at the end.”
“Raimi Productions is proud to be teaming up with Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. They have exceeded all expectations in my experience with them at Quibi and we have the utmost confidence in their brilliant story. I am honored to once again be joining forces with our partners at Sony Pictures. We have a wild and thrilling blockbuster that we can’t wait to share with the world,” Raimi said in a statement.
“After ‘A Quiet Place’ we knew we had a responsibility to reinvest back into the eco-system of original ideas,” Beck and Woods’ statement reads. “We are so proud to have partnered with a studio that believes in a theatrical landscape that looks for launching new stories. Our producing team at Raimi Productions helped foster our vision for this film as directors before we introduced the spec script to the town. Sam Raimi is not only one of our heroes, but one of the only filmmakers to successfully master both independent film and the studio blockbuster. We can’t imagine a more perfect mentor to help us transition into big studio filmmaking.”
Beck and Woods recently wrote and also directed one episode of Raimi’s Quibi series “50 States of Fright.” Previously, the duo sold a horror pitch of “The Boogeyman” to 20th Century Studios based on Stephen King’s short story of the same name. The two are currently writing the screenplay for the film and are serving as executive producers. They also wrote the sci-fi drama “Sovereign” with Mahershala Ali.
Raimi’s production house has now sold three films to Sony within the past year. Most recently, it produced the horror movie “Crawl” from director Alex Aja for Paramount. Back in October, it was reported that Raimi was plotting his return to horror with another film at Columbia Pictures. He’s also next directing “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”
Beck and Woods are represented by ICM Partners, Anonymous Content, and Manatt, Phelps & Phillip. Raimi is represented by CAA.
Variety first reported the news of the project.