James Cameron has announced that his production house, Lightstorm Entertainment, has acquired the rights to produce "The Devils," a new novel written by author and screenwriter Joe Abercrombie. Cameron will be co-writing the script for this film along with Abercrombie.
"The Devils" is a dark fantasy book with roots in classic horror. It focuses on a priest who is tasked with a divine mission who quickly discovers his burden is infested with murderers, wizards, and frightful beasts. For any of them to achieve God, violent action will be unavoidable. Since its publication last month, the novel has reached the #1 spot on the UK charts and placed #5 on the New York Times Best Sellers List.
"How do I describe 'The Devils? ' A acutely witty horror adventure? An epic struggle between good and bad except most of the time you can't tell who's who? A corrupted, stylish, alt-dimension middle-ages romp, where the monsters are your best chance of survival? This is Joe Abercrombie at his absolute best, unleashing a completely new world and cast of delectious new characters," Cameron said. "The plot twists and turns at a rollercoaster rate, and with Joe's acerbic style and wit. 'The Devils' demonstrates Joe's jaundiced perception of human nature, in all its selfish, dark magnificence, through some very un-human characters.
But naturally, Joe always leaves us teetering on the edge of those glimmers of redemption that make it so worth it — and actually quite heartbreaking."
Cameron is set to start working on the adaptation after he completes "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third film of the "Avatar" series, which is set for release in December. The fourth installment will be out only in December 2029, and then the fifth one is in 2031. He added, “I’ve loved Joe’s writing for years, cherishing each new read, throughout the epic cycle of the ‘First Law’ books, especially ‘Best Served Cold’ (LOVE IT!) and the ‘Age of Madness’ trilogy. But the freshness of the world and the characters in ‘The Devils’ finally got me off my butt to buy one of his books and partner with him to bring it to the screen. I'm excited for the writing process with him, although I'm pretty sure this adaptation will essentially write itself since Joe writes so visually, nearly in scenes, and very cinematically structured.
I'm already eager to get into this as I wrap up on 'Avatar: Fire and Ash.' It will be a happy new challenge for me to bring these unforgettable characters to life.
Joe Abercrombie, best known for some fantasy books, is also a screenwriter who worked on the film "Borderlands" (listed as Joe Crombie) and the show "Love, Death, & Robots." "James Cameron has been exciting me, and audiences around the world, by bringing the impossible onto the screen for more than four decades," Abercrombie said. "Nobody can do mind-blowing action and spectacle and gut-wrenching personal stakes and story better than he does.". I couldn't imagine anyone else to bring this strange and fantastical beast of a book to the screen. As with all these things, I can't say too much more yet. Thrilling stuff, it doesn't need to be said. I'm going to be writing with, ahem, James Cameron. Obviously there aren't many bigger beasts in the business. But still an business with no certainties.
My suggestion, as ever with adaptations, is don't hold your breath.
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