KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — Joko Anwar, the Indonesian director behind acclaimed horror films Pengabdi Setan (Satan’s Slaves) and Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (Impetigore) is set to make his Hollywood debut.
He will write and direct an adaptation of Charles Beaumont’s classic short story, Fritzchen, Deadline reported.
The upcoming project also marks the 46-year-old’s English-language film debut.
Joko shared a screenshot of the Deadline announcement on his Instagram account yesterday.
Village Roadshow Pictures will produce the upcoming project and the story will be adapted into a script by Michael Voyer and produced by David Kopple for Entertainment 360.
“The producers at Village Roadshow have long been following my films, and they said they have wanted to work with me for a long time,” Joko said.
“Last year, they had a sci-fi horror project that they thought would be suitable for me to make.
“Then they contacted my agent in the US, the Creative Artist Agency CAA, we met, and [we] turned out to be suited to one another.”
Fritzchen was published in 1953 and centres around a young boy’s encounter with a strange creature on a beach.
Much of the film’s plot is being kept under wraps but the movie will feature elements of sci-fi and horror.
Known for his speculative fiction works, Beaumont wrote numerous Twilight Zone episodes including The Howling Man, Miniature and Number Twelve Looks Just Like You as well as the screenplay for the 1964 film The Masque of the Red Death.
The late US author who died in 1967 is often referred to as one of the greatest film and television writers of the last century.
Born in Medan, Joko worked as a journalist and film critic before becoming one of Indonesia’s most successful filmmakers.
He shot to stardom after co-writing Nia Dinata’s 2003 comedy-drama film Arisan! and went on to direct his first film, the rom-com Joni’s Promise.
His first supernatural outing Pengabdi Setan, a loose remake of the 1980 cult classic of the same name, was the highest-grossing Indonesian film of 2017.
The film which also starred Malaysian actor Bront Palarae became the highest-grossing Indonesian film ever to be released in Malaysia.
Its sequel Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion is slated for release later this year.
His eighth feature film, the 2019 folk horror Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (Impetigore) premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews and was Indonesia’s official submission for the 2021 Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category.
