Speaking of legendary, the previous post was a PKD related adaptation and here we have a potential one from the mind of Shirley Jackson. According to THR, producers are now searching for a cast for a Mark Kruger screenplay.
Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle was written in 1962 (and also was adapted to a play by Tony Award winner Hugh Wheeler in the ’60s). I could be horribly uninformed as I’ve never heard of Book magazine, but they do include the principal character of the work, Mary Katherine Blackwood, as one of the top 100 fictional characters since 1900, along with some rather good company. Admittedly, I don’t not knowing the qualifications being used, but how a list does not include Mickey Mouse of Superman is beyond me. Hell, I’d rather have one more Watterson Calvin and Hobbes panel then ever hear the name Jay Gatsby again. THR describes the potential film:
“Castle” revolves around the Blackwood family — primarily of sisters Merricat and Connie and their uncle Julian — who have been forced into seclusion after the mysterious lethal poisoning of several of their family members six years earlier. Merricat is the younger sister, caring for the agoraphobic Connie, while the ailing Julian increasingly is in the grip of his own obsessions.
The plot is further complicated by the arrival of a dubious, long-lost cousin who seeks to secure the family’s fortune.
Fantastic book, as you’d expect from Jackson. It’s a lovely slow burner lulling you into a false sense of comfort before ripping your spleen out.
I can only pray this goes as well as Robert Wise’s ‘The Haunting’, which is my favourite film.
My favorite (of hers) though I agree not as overt, and one that presents an interesting decision in filming in terms of handling flashbacks IMHO.