Trapped: Stephen King and Richard Chizmar team with The Night Flier’s Mark Pavia for new horror film
A couple of months ago, we heard that Mark Pavia, writer/director of the Stephen King adaptation The Night Flier and the slasher thriller Fender Bender, was teaming with producer Andria Litto for a new genre feature called Murder-Abilia. It was said that Pavia and Litto were planning to work together on multiple projects beyond the potential Murder-Abilia franchise, similar to the way Litto’s father, George Litto, worked as a producer on multiple Brian De Palma films. Today, we’ve been sent a new press release that announces two more Pavia / Litto projects – including one called Trapped, which reunites Pavia with Stephen King!
Trapped will be based on an original story that King crafted with fellow author Richard Chizmar. King and Chizmar previously wrote the novels Gwendy’s Button Box and Gwendy’s Final Task together. Litto has optioned the film adaptation rights for her company Amuse Entertainment, Inc., and Pavia will be directing from a screenplay he wrote with Richard Chizmar and Richard’s son W.H. Chizmar, who is also a published novelist. The Trapped script is ready to shoot, and Litto is already strategizing her next move with the studios and investors.
Trapped tells the story of a young and troubled college student who suddenly finds herself hunted by a bizarre serial killer while out on a solitary hike in the deep woods of Maine.
Pavia provided the following statement: “Trapped is Misery meets Fatal Attraction in the woods for a modern audience. I am incredibly excited to be working with Stephen King again after all of these years, a real homecoming for me. Co-writing Trapped with the amazing Richard Chizmar and his wildly talented son W.H. Chizmar has been a very fulfilling and gratifying experience, just a total blast. Let me also add that working with Andria Litto, an absolute powerhouse of a producer, is a dream come true and a great new partnership as well. It really is a spectacular team we have assembled on this project, and we can’t wait to share the terrifying results of all of our efforts with horror fans around the world.” Richard Chizmar added, “Trapped is a hide-your-eyes rollercoaster ride of horror and suspense with some real surprises lurking in the shadows. Mark Pavia and Stephen King are a dream duo with a long record of success. My son and I are thrilled to be along for the ride.“
Litto became aware of the project when Pavia let her know the option was available – and it was especially appealing to her because her father had been De Palma’s agent when he directed Carrie, the first film adaptation of a King novel. Andria Litto said, “I couldn’t resist the idea of bringing this full circle and producing a Stephen King movie with Mark. It just seemed like kismet. I’m incredibly honored to have the opportunity to work with Mark, Richard, Billy, and Stephen King. My Dad would have loved this.” Litto has made an award-winning feature-length documentary about her father called My Father Moves Mountains, which is making the festival rounds.
Another Pavia / Litto project mentioned in the press release is Hollywood Psycho, a horror/thriller about an unhinged actor who can’t seem to get a break. George Litto originally read it and loved it before he passed away in 2019. Andria optioned it shortly after. She explained, “My Dad always said that stories need to be relatable, and we all know at least one Hollywood psycho, right?“
With Trapped, Murder-Abilia, and Hollywood Psycho all in the works, it sounds like we have a great line-up of Mark Pavia and Andria Litto genre movies to look forward to, and I can’t wait to see how they’re all going to turn out. Are you interested in these projects? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The post Trapped: Stephen King and Richard Chizmar team with The Night Flier’s Mark Pavia for new horror film appeared first on JoBlo.