Two legendary figures of genre are coming together to produce a feature adaptation of a genre-bending novel, namely Paul Feig and Sam Raimi. Suburban Hell, written by author Maureen Kilmer, has been snapped up by Legendary Pictures, Feigco Entertainment and Ghost House to get the cinematic treatment. News of the adaptation comes from Deadline. The screenplay will be penned by Joanna Calo and on board to produce are Feig and Laura Fischer of Feigco Entertainment alongside Ghost House's Raimi and Rob Tapert. Romel Adam and Jose Cañas will oversee for Ghost House.
The novel, which was only published last year, follows Amy Foster, who moves from the city to the suburbs and forms a close bond with a group of suburban moms, but this newfound group of friends is put to the test when one member of the group becomes possessed by an evil spirit. Kilmer told Writer's Digest that a key inspiration to her was the horror classic The Exorcist, so it should come as no surprise that Raimi is on board to produce. Raimi's contributions to cinema not only include directing the Tobey Maguire-starring Spider-Man and its subsequent sequels, but a multi-decade dedication to the world of horror films, harking all the way back to 1981's The Evil Dead, which Raimi, wrote, directed and produced, kicking off a franchise. One of Raimi's producing collaborators on this novel adaptation, Feig, is an equally dedicated servant to film genre, but in Feig's case, the medium is comedy. Feig is well-known for directing the hit 2011 female-ensemble comedy Bridesmaids and producing/creating the Emmy-winning comedy television series Freaks and Geeks. With Raimi and Feig's exemplary track records in their preferred genre, they make a perfect pairing to adapt this genre-bending novel, Suburban Hell, to the world of cinema.
Joining Raimi and Feig on this feature adaptation is screenwriter Joanna Calo, who is in a rich vein of form of late. Calo is coming off the back of great success with FX’s comedy-drama series The Bear. Calo performed the multi-faceted role of co-showrunner, writer, producer and director of The Bear, which has been renewed for a second season and won prizes at the recent Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes. The Bear proves Calo can blend comedy and drama together in perfect harmony, so adapting the comedy-horror novel Suburban Hell should produce incredible results as well.
No further details are known regarding the feature-adaption of Suburban Hell beyond the writing and producing team. At the present moment, a director, cast list and release date are under wraps, so it could be some time until this demonic comedy hits theaters. In the meantime, Paul Feig's 2022 fantasy film The School for Good and Evil is available to watch on Netflix. You can check out the trailer for Feig's YA novel adaptation below.