Joe Hill’s ‘Locke & Key’ Hulu series changes directors
By Shawn Lealos
The Joe Hill comic book series Locke & Key was supposed to get a television adaptation a few years ago.
While the original television pilot made for FOX was passed on, it looks like the story will get a second chance with Hulu. However, big changes just occurred as The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the Hulu pilot has replaced original director Scott Derrickson with Andy Muschietti.
From the start, Scott Derrickson seemed like the perfect person to tackle the Locke & Key story. The tale by Joe Hill, who also happens to be the son of Stephen King, is about the Locke family and the mysterious Key House that hides dangerous secrets threatening to destroy anyone who gets too close. Derrickson has a strong background in fantasy and most recently directed the Marvel movie, Doctor Strange.
However, Derrickson had to pull out of the Locke & Key pilot because he is working on the TNT pilot of Snowpiercer, another television series based on a critically acclaimed comic book. Replacing Derrickson is director Andy Muschietti, who is about to release a movie he directed based on one of Stephen King’s most popular novels, It.
While losing Derrickson seems like a tough break, Muschietti proved himself with the first movie of his young career – Mama. When looking at the theme and direction of Mama, it seems like the young director has an eye for the supernatural and absurd that is needed for Locke & Key.
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Plus, seeing as how Muschietti got the job before It hit theaters, that speaks wonders. If Muschietti had screwed up It, there is no way that Stephen King’s son would trust him with his comic book masterpiece.
Locke & Key follows three siblings after the brutal murder of their father. They move into their old family estate, the Key House, with their mother.
With their mother depressed and losing herself to alcoholism, the three siblings find a set of keys that open mysterious portals and offer great powers. They eventually have to find a way to save themselves from an evil demon who wants the keys and will do anything to get them.
Joe Hill wrote the pilot script for the Hulu television show and Carlton Cuse (Bates Motel) will executive produce the show. IDW packaged the show and took it out for a bidding war with Hulu beating out Netflix, HBO, and FX.
Next: Stephen King’s ‘Dark Tower’ still coming to television
The word is that this is a straight-to-order series. Hulu also produced and aired the Stephen King series 11/22/63, based on a man traveling back in time to try to stop the John F. Kennedy murder.