New Line Cinema acquired the rights to Victor Sweetser’s horror short Occupant after a bidding war between several A-List producers. The story was on the market for less than 24 hours.
It is rare to create such interest around a short film; however, it is the case with Occupant. Sweetser is a first-time writer, and the story has been “described as a reinvention of the haunted house movie.” The short film will be transformed into a significant feature with an experienced talent on board: Zach Cregger (Barbarian), Roy Lee (Vertigo), and Scott Glassgold (Ground Control) are set to produce the genre film already.
Occupant tells the story of a haunted house through the eyes of a teenage narrator. A 100-year-old Victorian home is offered for free with the condition of moving house to a different lot. The reason why the house is given away comes in the story later. A couple is chosen to be the new owners, and they move it to an empty lot in a small town where the teenagers used around to drink.
Occupant is New Line Cinema’s sixth recent short story sale, which includes We Used to live Here, Caretaker, and Wilderness Reform. The company has produced several successful genre films, It collected $705M worldwide, and The Conjuring franchise has earned more than $2 billion.
The project was represented by Verve Talent Agency, who will auction The right for a book based on Occupant.
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