Lynne Ramsay, whose hallucinatory films often have a genre edge, is making her first official foray into horror with an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1999 cult novel “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.” Ramsay will direct the film from a script she co-wrote with Christy Hall, co-creator of the Netflix series “I Am Not Okay With This.” Production is set to commence sometime next year, with Village Roadshow Pictures backing the project. “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” carries an impressive horror pedigree, as the producers include Christine Romero, the former wife of the late George A. Romero, and “It” producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Films.
For those who haven’t read King’s chilling novel, here’s the official synopsis from the horror author’s website: “Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail. Lost for days, wandering farther and farther astray, Trisha has only her portable radio for comfort. A huge fan of Tom Gordon, a Boston Red Sox relief pitcher, she listens to baseball games and fantasizes that her hero will save her. Nature isn’t her only adversary, though — something dangerous may be tracking Trisha through the dark woods.”
This is Ramsay’s first narrative feature project since “You Were Never Really Here,” starring Joaquin Phoenix as a for-hire killer peeling back the layers on a child-trafficking scheme, won the Best Screenplay prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. Amazon Studios released the film to acclaim the following year. Ramsay’s past projects have flirted with horror before, with her 2011 thriller “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” hovering around the aftermath of a high-school massacre, with Tilda Swinton as the killer’s grief-rattled mother. But don’t expect traditional horror with “Tom Gordon,” as Ramsay likes to mix and match.
Ramsay’s other films include her 1999 debut “Ratcatcher,” and 2002’s cult favorite “Morvern Callar.” She was slated to direct the western “Jane Got a Gun,” starring Natalie Portman in 2013, but exited the project early into production due to creative differences. She was replaced by Gavin O’Connor.
Producers on “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” also include Ryan Silbert of Origin Story, plus Jon Berg of Stampede Ventures. Andrew Childs will serve as the executive producer, alongside Village Roadshow Pictures’ EVP of content Jillian Apfelbaum, who will oversee production.
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