DEADLINE EXCLUSIVE BY MATT GROBAR: Sony‘s Screen Gems is in very early development on a Paradise Court film based on the horror comic book series from Zenescope Entertainment, and has enlisted Assemble Media to produce it, Deadline has learned.
Created by Zenescope’s CEO Joe Brusha, Paradise Court takes its name from a luxurious and exclusive gated community where beneath an idyllic facade lies a deadly secret — all the residents are serial killers with unique proclivities and manicured lawns cut as sharp as the knives in their kitchens.
The project was brought to Screen Gems by Jack Heller and Assemble Media. Assemble principal Heller will produce, with the company’s VP of Development & Production Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen to exec produce alongside Zenescope co-founders Brusha and Ralph Tedesco. Screen Gems’ Executive Vice President of Production Scott Strauss will oversee the project for the studio.
Assemble Media is a production and IP creation company with projects spanning film, TV, digital and literature that has previously produced S. Craig Zahler’s Brawl in Cell Block 99 starring Vince Vaughn, and Gia Coppola’s Venice-premiering Andrew Garfield starrer Mainstream for IFC Films. Assemble more recently unveiled its John Michael McDonagh drama The Forgiven, starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, with Roadside Attractions and Vertical bringing it to theaters last year.
Since its founding by Brusha and Tedesco in 2005, Zenescope Entertainment has grown into one of the world’s top comic book and graphic novel publishing companies. It boasts a deep library of characters across dozens of horror, fantasy, sci-fi and action titles that have sold over 14 million copies. The company previously partnered with Syfy on the series Van Helsing, based on their graphic novel series Helsing, which ran for five seasons.
Screen Gems’ next release is the supernatural horror The Pope’s Exorcist, starring Academy Award winner Russell Crowe, which hits theaters on April 14. Other upcoming films from the studio include the romantic dramedy Love Again(May 12) with Priyanka Chopra and Sam Heughan, Bert Kreischer action-comedy vehicle The Machine (May 26) and Insidious: Fear the Dark (July 7).
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