Richard Stanley‘s crazy and weird adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s Color Out of Space with Nicolas Cage is opening in theaters this weekend, and this movie won’t be his last Lovecraft film. We already knew that the production company behind Color Out of Space, SpectreVision, was looking to develop a trilogy of films based on the dark and twisted stories of Lovecraft. Well, the next one has been announced and Stanley will be back to direct it.
Stanley revealed that SpectreVision has already given the greenlight to two more movies and the next one will be an adaptation of The Dunwich Horror. Stanley told Rue Morgue:
“I’m pleased to say that SpectreVision has basically greenlit two more Lovecraft adaptations, and I’m currently prepping my new adaptation of The Dunwich Horror. It will be set in the same milieu as Color Out of Space, in a near-future, disaster-struck Arkham County. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get that before the cameras this winter.”
Sounds like Stanley is building his own little Lovecraft universe for SpectreVision and I’m totally cool with that. It’s good to see someone passionate about Lovecraft diving into his work and giving us these movies. Stanley went on to tease what the film will entail:
“With Dunwich Horror, we’ll go on campus and get back to Miskatonic University for the first time since Re-Animator. We’ll also get to deal with the Necronomicon, the black book at the core of the mythos. So I’m very much looking forward to getting my hands on this.”
If you’re not familiar with The Dunwich Horror it “tells the story of Wilbur Whateley, the son of a deformed albino mother and an unknown father (alluded to in passing by the mad Old Whateley as “Yog-Sothoth”), and the strange events surrounding his birth and unprecedentedly precocious development. Wilbur matures at an abnormal rate, reaching manhood within a decade. All the while, his sorcerer grandfather indoctrinates him into certain dark rituals and the study of witchcraft.”
When previously talking about adapting Lovecraft’s work, SpectreVision’s Daniel Noah previously said:
“Lovecraft is possibly the most adapted horror author ever. But there’s really never been a totally faithful adaptation of any of his works. I think there are a few that are sort of close. One of them is the German version of Color Out of Space that came out a few years ago. Stuart Gordon’s films are wonderful, but they are more Stuart Gordon than they are Lovecraft. We had been hellbent on finding the Lovecraft adaptation that truly captured cosmic dread without the camp. When we encountered Richard Stanley’s script, I remember texting Elijah [Wood] after I read the first page and said, ‘This is it. We found it.’ When you see this film, you’ll see that there are all kinds of little references that are allusions to other Lovecraft stories.”
I can’t wait to how these next couple of Lovecraft films turn out! Is this something you’re excited about hearing?