Ghost Eaters: Derrickson and Levin’s Supernatural Drug Horror Movie in Development

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson and his wife, Maggie Levin, are joining forces to adapt the horror novel Ghost Eaters into a film for Screen Gems. The movie is in its initial stages of development with Levin set to write and direct. Derrickson along with C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng will serve as the film’s producers. The best-selling novel by Clay McLeod Chapman follows a group of friends who encounter a supernatural drug with disturbing side effects.

– Scott Derrickson and Maggie Levin will adapt Clay McLeod Chapman’s acclaimed horror novel Ghost Eaters for Screen Gems, with Levin to write and direct.
– The novel follows a group of friends and their encounters with a drug called ‘Ghost’, which has severe supernatural side effects.
– The project, produced by Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill and Vince Cheng under the Crooked Highway banner, is currently in early development.

Scott Derrickson, acclaimed for his work on The Black Phone, has partnered with his spouse, the accomplished filmmaker Maggie Levin, for a new project focussed on adapting the horror narrative Ghost Eaters.

Screen Gems, known for its association with Derrickson’s production company Crooked Highway, is supporting the venture and has acquired rights to the book. Ghost Eaters, a top-seller, was authored by Clay McLeod Chapman.

The responsibility of scripting and directing the adaptation lies with Levin. Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill, and Vince Cheng are tasked with evolving and producing the project under the aegis of Crooked Highway. The project is in its initial stages.

Ghost Eaters, Chapman’s horror novel, addresses the chilling supernatural journey into the abyss of sorrow and addiction. It tells the tale of friends who come across a peculiar drug named Ghost, which unveils the dead. However, Ghost brings along highly disconcerting repercussions, as stated on the book cover, it’s a point of no return once consumed.

This novel amassed several honors upon its publication three years prior. Recognized as one of the standout horror narratives of 2022 endorsed by distinguished publications like Vulture, Paste, Book Riot, and Crime Reads, it was also chosen for the September 2022 Library Reads selection and the October 2022 Indie Next Pick.

Clay McLeod Chapman’s writing prowess in the horror genre has earned him nominations for the Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Awards with his other works like Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, What Kind of Mother, and Whisper Down the Lane. Chapman recently inked a three-book agreement with Tor Nightfire, commencing with Mr. Lonelyhearts in 2027. He has additionally extended his creativity into the realms of comics and films.

Levin, on the other hand, has already demonstrated her writing and directing talent through My Valentine, a full-length episode of the horror anthology series Into the Dark, produced by Hulu and Blumhouse. She followed this with an independently written and directed segment of V/H/S/99 that launched at TIFF in 2022 and was later obtained by Shudder.

Levin contributed her skills as a second unit director to Derrickson’s AppleTV+ big-budget monster film, The Gorge – one of the most-viewed movies on the platform. She maintained analogous roles in his work Black Phone, and its impending sequel, Black Phone 2, set to release this October in cinemas.