Not sure how I missed this, but the movie rights for David Wong’s horror comedy novel John Dies at the End have been purchased by Kaedrin favorite Don Coscarelli (of <a href="Phantasm“>Phantasm and Bubba Ho-tep fame). Wong used to write at a website called Pointless Waste of Time, but he has since been hired to edit Cracked.com, and all his articles are there now (including the particularly brilliant Ultimate War Simulation Game article). He originally published John Dies at the End online (unfortunately no longer available), but it got picked up by an indie horror publisher (unfortunately, that edition is now sold out) and is now set to be re-released sometime in 2009.
IMDB doesn’t have it listed yet, but Coscarelli seems excited:
The story follows two goofballs who get caught up in a freaky fight against (deep breath…) mutated victims of a strange drug that allows them to drift across time and dimensions and the horrific invasion that may be taking place on Earth because of them. Coscarelli compares JOHN DIES to his previous popular adaptation: “My feelings for JOHN are similar to how they were for Joe R. Lansdale’s BUBBA HO-TEP,” he says. “Prior to filming that movie, I’d reread the Lansdale novella and absolutely knew it would make a terrific movie. I feel the same way about JOHN. David Wong is a terrific new talent. He effortlessly blends genres and creates genuine dread. I’m thrilled to be working on a project that’s firmly planted in the genre, yet different and highly original.”
AICN has some more info:
“I was greatly impressed by David Wong’s crazed originality and impressive imagination,” revealed Coscarelli. “He’s like a mash-up of Douglass Adams and Stephen King, both smart and goofy, scary and funny — it really spoke to me. JDatE is as addictive as the ‘Soy Sauce’ street drug that kicks the plot into gear.”
I have no idea how long this will take to make it to the screen, but I imagine it would be a while (this is what sucks about keeping track of movies in production – you always find out about the movies years before they’re made). In any case, I’m really looking forward to this. Coscarelli is a great director and would be a good match for Wong’s style. After all, this is the director who made a movie about an aging Elvis (with a black JFK sidekick) battling a mummy in a Texas old folks home. It’s a perfect match.