“The Undertakers,” the young adult novel series written by Ty Drago, has been officially optioned by Producer/Director Andrew van den Houten of Modernciné and his company along with Final Destination creator Jeffrey Reddick for a film adaptation. So far, two of the critically acclaimed “Undertaker” books have been published – “The Undertakers: Rise of The Corpses” and “The Undertakers: Queen of The Dead.”
The series is described as “Spy Kids crossed with ‘The Walking Dead'” as it centers on Will Ritter, a high school student who begins to see that some of the people around him are “Deaders,” inter-dimensional entities that take over the bodies of the dead and use them as hosts. When Will is recruited by a group of kids who are also gifted with “The Sight,” he discovers that he holds the secret to stopping this new type of terrifying invasion.
Reddick commented on the new project saying,
“I’ve been trying to find a project to do with Andrew for years and when I read Ty’s book I knew this was the one. It’s a unique concept with compelling characters and a fun mixture of adventure, cool sci-fi and intense horror.”
Modernciné has similarly already made a name for itself by producing darker films which include Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door and The Woman.
“With Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson’s ‘All Cheerleaders Die’ in post-production, ‘The Undertakers’ is yet another potential franchise that moves our brand toward larger audiences. Mr. Reddick is the ultimate fanboy of these types of films and his success is proven. His vision for adapting Ty Drago’s awesomely original book series is exactly what we want to bring to the big screen. ‘The Undertakers’ gives us chance to share the horror genre with the younger underserved fans as well,” said Modernciné’s van den Houten.
Drago, the author, is also equally as excited to see his series translated to the screen saying,
“Jeffrey Riddick has done more than simply capture the spirit of ‘The Undertakers.’ He’s brought them to life, with all the action and horror and humanity that goes along with that. His screenplay honored me almost as much as it blew me away!”
There is no word yet on when the project will begin production or any other talent attached to the film.