Scott Derrickson is set to adapt Davis Grubb’s novel that was turned into a classic film back in 1955. More on The Night Of The Hunter adaptation below.
While we’re still waiting for The Black Phone 2 to hit cinemas next year, director Scott Derrickson is adding another project to his growing roster of films he wants to make.
Not only is he directing the star-studded The Gorge, but Derrickson will now also reunite with his frequent collaborator, writer C Robert Cargill, to re-adapt The Night Of The Hunter. The duo previously made Sinister (2012), Sinister 2 (2015), Doctor Strange (2016) and The Black Phone (2021) together. The news of their latest project comes to us via The Hollywood Reporter.
Based on a 1953 novel by Davis Grubb, The Night Of The Hunter tells the story of Harry Powell, an ex-con who poses as a preacher as he sets out to find his old cellmate’s hidden cash. Powell goes as far as wooing and marrying the cellmate’s widow in order to secure the money for himself.
The novel was previously adapted into a film in 1955, with Robert Mitchum playing the part of Harry Powell and Shelley Winters as Willa, the poor widow Powell targets. Despite initially being considered a failure, both critically and commercially, the film is now considered a classic film noir. Charles Laughton directed the film.
The Coen brothers are known to throw a couple of references of The Night Of The Hunter in their films, and in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, Radio Raheem’s speech about love and hate is very, very similar to Powell’s speech in the 1955 film.
There’s no casting news or a release date for Derrickson’s adaptation yet, but Universal is backing the project. More on The Night Of The Hunter as we hear it.
