At 2011’s San Diego Comic-Con, a lucky few got to see the first attempt at a TV adaptation of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s cult-favourite IDW horror fantasy comic. That pilot never got picked up, but Locke & Key has been playing the second-chance sweepstakes ever since — and it looks to have paid off.
Locke & Key cover art by Gabriel Rodriguez
Granted, today’s news is just the confirmation that another pilot has been ordered; there’s no series commitment yet. But the TV landscape has changed a lot since 2011. Hulu, home of horror sci-fi anthology Dimension 404 and the upcoming J.J. Abrams-Stephen King project Castle Rock, feels like a promising fit (and not just because King is writer Joe Hill’s father). Plus, this pilot has a big-name director attached: Scott Derrickson, who’s hot off Marvel hit Doctor Strange and who also happens to have a horror background (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose), both of which dovetail nicely with Locke & Key‘s story points about dimensional portals, magical powers, demons and so forth. According to Deadline, Derrickson was the first director approached about the project, and he readily agreed; if the show’s picked up he’ll helm multiple episodes before reporting for duty on the Doctor Strange sequel.
Also lending heft to this latest attempt to bring Locke & Key to the small screen is the presence of veteran producer Carlton Cuse (Bates Motel, Colony, The Strain), who will serve as showrunner. Fingers crossed it all works out.