Oscar winner Jessica Chastain is attached to produce and star in the creature feature I Am Not Alone, which Misha Green (Lovecraft Country) will write and direct for Netflix.
The sci-fi/horror film is based on a 22-page short story by Chris Hicks that sparked a major bidding war between five bidders and ultimately landed him high-six figures, while Green’s deal calls for mid-seven figures. Netflix execs were competing with Warner Bros. execs for this one, making offers from last weekend’s Oscar parties.
The grounded sci-fi story follows a mother who begins suffering unbearable migraines that cause her to start hallucinating terrifying creatures, forcing her to defend her family against a threat that only she can see.
Simon Kinberg and Audrey Chon will produce I Am Not Alone along with Chastain and her Freckle Films partner Kelly Carmichael, as well as Craig Flores of Bread & Circus Entertainment, Scott Glassgold of Ground Control, Peter Katz, and Green.
Deadline broke the news, reporting that this might be the highest sum ever paid for a short story, including New Line’s recent deal for The Occupant, which had Barbarian director Zach Cregger at the center of it. When you factor in Chastain’s salary, the deal even surpasses that of Weapons, which reportedly sold to New Line for $38 million. Verve and Glassgold’s Ground Control handled the auction along with Katz, CAA, and Range Media Partners.
“I’m a massive fan of Misha’s work… [and her] vision for it is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, Kinberg told Deadline, while Flores referred to the project as a “franchise,” so clearly the producing team has high hopes for this one, as does Netflix, which has been wary of overpaying for packages of late. This one, however, was simply too good to pass up, it seems.
CAA represents Chastain and Green, who are respectively managed by Mosaic and Range Media Partners. Hicks is repped by Verve and Story Driven.
