Sony Pictures and 21 Laps have reportedly enlisted Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as the screenwriters for their new horror film Gnomes, based on the breakout horror short from Dutch filmmakers Richard Raaphorst and Ruwan Heggelman.
The project is in early development following Sony’s acquisition of film rights earlier this month in a competitive situation. Details are under wraps, but the original short focuses on a girl who stumbles into the territory of a killer gnome tribe while out on her daily run, finding herself in grave danger after being lured in by its mysterious glowing mushrooms.
21 Laps’ Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine will produce the film, with Emily Feher overseeing the project for the company. Raaphorst is also on board as a producer.
Gnomes sounds like it has the sort of bizarro synopsis that will get people interested, which is often enough for a relatively low budget horror film. The fact that it’s based on a buzzy recent short will only help.
Outside of the Marvel machine, Barrer and Ferrari also wrote the script to Searchlight thriller No Exit, which debuted on Hulu last year.
Prior to that they penned action-comedy Die In A Gunfight, and they have experience with horror, having collaborated on 2013 IFC Midnight horror Haunt. We’ll see what they can do with the wacky premise of Gnomes.
#Peace.Love.Gnomes
