Set to hit theaters next summer is the upcoming feature directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan, The Watchers. Adapted for the screen by Shyamalan from the A.M. Shine novel of the same name, the story follows Mina, a 28-year old artist who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers that are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night. The director's father, M. Night Shyamalan, will produce the film alongside Ashwin Rajan and Nimitt Mankad, with Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, and Jo Homewood serving as executive producers. A joint-venture production between New Line Cinema, Blinding Edge Pictures, and Inimitable Pictures, the film will be released on June 7, 2024 by Warner Bros. Pictures. Music: "Opening" – Trevor Gureckis (Voyagers) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBnUpYh_C6s

In early 2005, Universal Pictures acquired the film rights to author Terry Brooks' fantasy novel series Magic Kingdom of Landover, with plans for a live-action film franchise starting with Magic Kingdom for Sale. The Mummy helmer Stephen Sommers was hired to direct, from a screenplay adapted by veteran comedy scribes Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, with the story concerning a widowed attorney who leaves his old life behind when he responds to a mysterious advertisement and spends his fortune to purchase a magical kingdom, but he and his two children get more than they bargained for when they find the kingdom on the verge of chaos. Sommers would also produce alongside his production partner and go-to editor Bob Ducsay. Several years later, it was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures had picked up the rights to develop the film, enlisting Akiva Goldsman to co-produce through his Weed Road Pictures banner and Craig Wright to perform a rewrite on the script, with Steve Carell starring in the lead role. No doubt many of Sommers' frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer Alan Silvestri, film editor Kelly Matsumoto, and cinematographer Mitchell Amundsen. However, no further news would ever come of the project, with Sommers instead moving on to direct Odd Thomas. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "The Oasis" – Alan Silvestri (Ready Player One) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuLi8UVUgPw

The feature film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's inexplicably best-selling young adult romantic fantasy novel Twilight was initially in development at Paramount Pictures and MTV Films, with Mark Lord first hired to pen the screenplay. Lord originally pitched his take on the material as a vampiric twist on the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, but MTV Films president David Gale requested he turn in a draft that would deviate significantly from the novel, as he feared that an overemphasis on the romantic element would alienate male audiences. Lord's script was more of an action-horror hybrid than the romantic fantasy of the book, with Bella Swan being written as a much more active character, a track star who fights back against the rogue vampires and is turned into a vampire herself at the end of the story. Furthermore, Edward Cullen was more of a Blade-type vampire than he was in the novel, Bella's father Charlie gets killed, a Korean FBI agent-slash-vampire hunter was included as an additional antagonist, and there were several set pieces, including: Bella riding jet skis while being chased by the FBI, and the rogue vampires picking off members of a SWAT team who were sent into a forest after them. Paramount's production co-prexy at the time, Karen Rosenfelt, was so determined to get the film made that she even attempted to forge a co-production deal between the studio and Fox 2000 Pictures. In an interview with MTV Hollywood, Home Alone helmer and Harry Potter veteran Chris Columbus revealed that he took a glance at a script for Twilight very early on during the adaptation process; presumably, he might have been referring to Lord's draft. Had Columbus signed on, no doubt many of his frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer James Horner, costume designer Judianna Makovsky, film editor Richard Pearson, production designer Howard Cummings, cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt, and producing partners Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe. Alas, Columbus was too busy working on other projects, and Meyer's displeasure with the changes made from the source material and a change in management over at Paramount ultimately put the kibosh on this version, with the studio putting it into turnaround and letting the rights expire, which led to Rosenfelt taking the project over to Summit Entertainment, who agreed with Meyer that a much more faithful adaptation of the novel be produced, and the rest — as they say — is history. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics" – James Horner ft. Charlotte Church (A Beautiful Mind) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7JGTV_WoC4

A feature film adaptation of the acclaimed Stephen King psychological sci-fi horror novel The Long Walk, whose story — set in a future dystopian America ruled by a totalitarian and militaristic dictator — concerns the contestants of a grueling annual walking contest, has been in varying stages of development since the late 1980's. The grandmaster of zombie horror, George A. Romero, was first approached to write and direct, having previously worked with King on the EC Comics-influenced horror anthology Creepshow. When that didn't pan out, visionary filmmaker Frank Darabont — having previously adapted King's stories Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist into critically acclaimed films — acquired the rights in 2007, planning on making it as a low-budget experimental arthouse film. When the rights lapsed, they were picked up by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema in the spring of 2018, tapping Zodiac scribe James Vanderbilt to pen the screenplay. Vanderbilt would also produce alongside Bradley J. Fischer and William Sherak through their Mythology Entertainment shingle. A year later, Trollhunter helmer André Øvredal was hired to direct, in what was to be his next project following the Guillermo del Toro-produced Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and the Norse mythology-inspired Mortal. No doubt Øvredal would've also brought onboard two of his frequent collaborators: film editor Patrick Larsgaard and cinematographer Roman Osin. Alas, no further news would ever come of the project. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "Postcard from the Edge" – Marco Beltrami (Venom: Let There Be Carnage) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUySQYkept8