EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has preemptively closed a deal to adapt “The Blanks,” the horror-thriller short story by genre maestro Grady Hendrix, for film.
21 Laps‘ Shawn Levy and Dan Levine will produce under the company’s longstanding creative partnership with Netflix, alongside Aperture Entertainment’s Adam Goldworm, with Hendrix exec producing. No word yet on who will direct or script the adaptation. This is the second short story Hendrix has taken to market following “Ankle Snatcher,” which he’s been set to adapt for Sony and Escape Artists, with Aperture producing.
In The Blanks, a family returns to their vacation home on Jeckle Island, as they do every summer, settling into familiar routines and abiding by the island’s unspoken rules. But when Rachel’s son discovers a family friend collapsed and confronted by something unspeakable, the illusion of normalcy shatters — setting off a chain of events that will change their lives forever.
The story was released as part of Amazon Originals’ The Shivers collection featuring six original short stories written by New York Times best selling authors Joe Hill, Hendrix, Stephen Graham Jones, Catriona Ward and Owen King.
With nearly all of his previous works being adapted for film or TV, Hendrix has quickly become a writer to watch in the genre space. He’s the author of New York Times bestsellers including The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (in development at HBO), The Final Girl Support Group (previously in development at HBO Max), and How to Sell a Haunted House (in development at Legendary with James Ashcroft directing and Sam Raimi’s Ghost House producing). Other works include Horrorstör (set up at New Republic with Hendrix adapting), My Best Friend’s Exorcism (adapted for film by Amazon), We Sold Our Souls, and the Bram Stoker Award-winning nonfiction book Paperbacks from Hell. To date, his books have sold more than 2.4 million copies worldwide.
Coming off a record-breaking 2024 with Deadpool & Wolverine, which became the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history with a worldwide gross exceeding $1.3 billion, 21 Laps is currently at work on the fifth and final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, which premieres later this year. Most recently, the company has announced a feature adaptation of Freida McFadden’s psychological thriller Never Lie and a Madonna limited series, both also for Netflix.
Goldworm’s boutique management production company Aperture Entertainment is currently set to produce Hannibal at Netflix with Denzel Washington starring and Antoine Fuqua directing, Thaw at New Line with Evil Dead Rise‘s Lee Cronin directing, Horrorstör at New Republic, Widmyer & Kolsch’s indie horror film The Swallow, and How To Sell a Haunted House at Legendary. Goldworm previously produced the lauded indies Dead Mail and My Friend Dahmer and the $147M-plus gross Vin Diesel actioner The Last Witch Hunter. Aperture is also developing a series adaptation of Hendrix’s The Final Girl Support Group, as well as an adaptation of the Image comics series Proof at Fox with Westbrook.
Hendrix is repped by Aperture Entertainment, JABberwocky’s Joshua Bilmes, and Gang,Tyre, Ramer; Goldworm by attorney Ashley Silver of Brecheen, Feldman, Breimer.
