On Friday, THR reported that Grady Hendrix’s extremely fun and charming horror novel My Best Friend’s Exorcism is being adapted for the big screen. Penny Dreadful‘s Damon Thomas will direct the script by Jenna Lamia, and Castle Rock‘s Elsie Fisher will star alongside Amiah Miller, Cathy Ang and Rachel Ogechi Kanu. The film’s being produced by The Gotham Group, Quirk Productions, Lamia and Freaky and Happy Death Day‘s Christopher Landon.
We’re big fans of Hendrix around these parts – read his article about his intense “wall of crazy” writing process here! – and we’re thrilled to see one of his best-loved books get the Hollywood treatment. Elsie Fisher is inspired casting, too. When asked how he feels about the big news, Hendrix shared with us:
“I wrote My Best Friend’s Exorcism back in 2015, so having it get made into a movie now feels like my kid has gone off to college and is sending me postcards – I’m psyched to hear the news, but it’s out of my hands. In this case, however, it sounds like they’re hanging out with the right crowd, so I feel like they’re not going to die from binge-drinking or setting themselves on fire, which is very exciting.”
Very exciting indeed. If you’ve never read My Best Friend’s Exorcism, well, get on that, and check out the synopsis and full (truly excellent) book cover below:
Set in 1988, during the Satanic Panic that had Americans looking for Satanists under every heavy metal album, My Best Friend’s Exorcism is a touching story of high school friendship and demonic possession. It’s basically Beaches meets The Exorcist with all the E.T. love, Phil Collins, wine coolers, United Colours of Benetton perfume, and demons from Hell that personified the 80s.
