Cross Creek Pictures and Hammer Films have acquired the rights to Cherie Priest‘s 2009 sci-fi novel Boneshaker. According to Deadline, the adaptation will be co-produced by Hammer and Cross Creek with Exclusive and Cross Creek financing. Nurse Jackie‘s John Hilary Shepherd will be writing the screenplay as well.
Priest‘s novel is an example of a “steampunk” science fiction, which intermingles futuristic elements into a Victorian back drop. Here’s Amazon‘s synopsis for the novel:
“In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born. But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead. Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.”
Boneshaker is the first in a series set in the same Civil War-period. Drednought, the second novel in the series, was published in 2010 and the third Ganymede was released this past September. A fourth and fifth installment are currently in the works. Although it has not been confirmed whether Hammer and Cross have acquired the rights to all the novels, the President of Cross Creek, Brian Oliver, did allude to the fact saying that they were “thrilled to have such a fun, commercial potential franchise in Boneshaker.” Simon Oakes also stated that the project is “quintessentially Hammer,” because it’s a “classic zombie movie with a modern twist.”
We’ve seen a lot of similar zombie movies in recent years and with the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies adaptation in shambles, it seems about time that Hollywood takes another stab at the beloved genre. Boneshaker has the blockbuster feel, so I’m curious to see how the project pans out.
Have you read Boneshaker? If so, are you excited about the adaptation?