Daniel Radcliffe has traded in his Harry Potter scar for some more obvious prosthetics in Horns, a new film from director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes).  Adapted by Keith Bunin from the Joe Hill novel of the same name, Horns centers on Ignatius “Ig” Perrish (Radcliffe), a young man who wakes up to find himself accused of the violent rape and murder of his girlfriend.  Oh, and he has horns growing out of his forehead that seem to come with the bonus powers of forcing people to confess their sins and getting them to give in to their darkest impulses.  Horns also stars Juno Temple, Max Minghella, James Remar and Kelli Garner.  Hit the jump to see the horns and to read what Radcliffe had to say about the much darker role.

After starring in the fantasy franchise Harry Potter and making a departure with the horror/thriller The Woman in Black, Daniel Radcliffe is now set to blend genres in the supernatural fantasy/thriller, Horns. An adaptation of the best-selling novel by Joe Hill, Horns centers on Ig Perrish (Radcliffe), the main suspect in the rape and murder of his girlfriend.  He wakes one morning to find horns growing from his head, appendages that have the ability to force confessions from strangers, which aids him in his quest to find the real killer and exact his revenge.  The premise sounds awesome and this could be a great turn for Radcliffe, who will get to once again seek vengeance for the death of a loved one.  Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) is set to direct.  Hit the jump for more details.

In October 2009, Mandalay Pictures picked up the screen rights to Joe Hill‘s novel Horns.  The book centers on “a 26-year-old man who wakes up with a massive hangover and discovers horns sprouting from his head. He becomes convinced that their existence is tied to the unsolved murder of his girlfriend.”  That would also be my logical conclusion from sprouting horns on my head.  The movie has been churning through development hell ever since, but today Heat Vision reports that Piranha 3D director Alexandre Aja will helm the adaptation.  Keith Bunin wrote the screenplay and Mandalay is in the process of packaging the movie in order to secure financing.  We reported back in March that Shia LaBeouf was set to star, but Heat Vision makes no mention of him in their story so presumably he’s dropped out.

The plan is to have Aja direct Horns in late spring-early summer 2012 before he moves on to adapt the manga Cobra the Space Pirate.  Hit the jump for the synopsis of Joe Hill’s novel.

Mandalay Pictures has solidified its place atop the Joe Hill fanclub by acquiring the film rights to Hill’s short story Twittering from the Circus of the Dead. Heat Vision reports that the studio that is already adapting Hill’s novel Horns for the big screen is quickly assembling a creative team behind their latest Hill acquisition. Per the report, director Todd Lincoln (upcoming The Apparition) is in talks to helm the pic from a screenplay by Chris Borrelli. Hill will serve as an executive producer on the project. In addition to Twittering and Horns, the author (and son of Stephen King) has also seen his comic book series Locke & Key adapted into a television pilot by Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci, Josh Friedman, and director Mark Romanek. His first novel, Heart Shaped Box, currently resides at Warner Bros.

Originally published in the horror anthology The New Dead, Twittering from the Circus of the Dead is told entirely from the perspective of a teenage girl’s tweets as she and her family embark on a cross country road trip. In a somewhat surprising twist, Mandalay has received Hill’s blessing to take the adaptation outside of the zombie genre for fear of over-saturation (apparently a new concern in the film industry). That said, the report doesn’t elaborate on the alterations outside of noting a “few surprise changes.” As for potential director Todd Lincoln, his aforementioned directorial debut The Apparition stars Ashley Greene and Sebastian Stan and is currently eyeing a 2012 release stateside for Dark Castle/Warner Bros.

Shia LaBeouf is attached to star in the feature film adaptation of the Joe Hill novel Horns.  LaBeouf will play Ig Perrish, a 26-year-old who drinks heavily on the first anniversary of his girlfriend’s murder and awakes the next morning with horns growing from his head: “As his horns grow bigger, Ig sets out to investigate the unsolved murder of his girlfriend and the case’s connection to his cursed fate.”

Keith Bunin (In Treatment) will adapt the screenplay for Mandalay Pictures, who optioned Horns in 2009 shortly before the book was published.  Hit the jump for the full synopsis, plus a look at the other projects Hill and LaBeouf have in development.

As the TV industry plows through development season, four potential new series just landed directors for their respective pilots. First, Mark Romanek, director of the much-buzzed about Never Let Me Go, will direct the pilot for the series adaptation of Joe Hill’s comic book Locke & Key. Combine his talent behind the camera with producers Steven Spielberg, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and writer Josh Friedman and it sounds like we’ve got one hell of a series on the way.

Hit the jump for news on the pilot directors for three more forthcoming series in development.

I don’t know who is writing good horror novels anymore.  Granted, I’m more of a non-fiction guy myself (although I currently can’t put down Christopher Moore’s “Lamb”) but the only name I ever associate with successful horror fiction is Stephen King.  Of course, King has now become a punch line, especially since upcoming book, “Under the Dome” has the same premise as “The Simpsons Movie”.  I don’t know if an association with King helps or hurts a project but since Joe Hill’s “Horns” was just picked up by Mandalay and Joe Hill is King’s son (Hill is short for Hillstrom, his middle name) I guess we’ll find out.  Hit the jump for a story that sounds better than one involving a fucking dome.