Fantasy thriller Shadowland being adapted into 3D feature film

Award-winning, bestselling author Peter Straub is teaming up with Benjamin Straub and Santa Monica-based writer and producer Larry Leahy, to bring his classic tales to the screen, according to a report from the currently happening American Film Market.

The first project on tap is Shadowland, a 3D feature based on Straub’s bestselling novel, which has been developed and will be produced by Donald C. Archbold, Paul Myler and Leahy. Benjamin Straub will join the production as a co‐producer and sales will be handled by executive producer Ted Rosenblatt of PFG Entertainment.

Shadowland centers on two prep school freshmen that form a bond based on their mutual interest in magic. After spending a memorable summer being trained in the art of illusion a strange old man in New England, they uncover an alternate world where dark forces are at play.

Here is a more detailed description of Shadowland from the PFG Entertainment website:

Shadowland 3D is a fast paced, compelling thriller based on the classic best selling novel by Peter Straub. Set in the summer of 1955, Shadowland begins with Tom Flanagan and Del Nightingale, both in their early twenties, forming an unlikely friendship as they find themselves forced to attend the strict, upper-class institution in England called, Ashmore College.

A cross between The Illusionist and The Shining, Shadowland is a timeless Faustian tale about a young university student who is lured by a charismatic old gentleman into the seductive world of magic, but is forced to decide whether or not to join the forces of evil to save the life of his best friend.

Shadowland 3D is to be directed by Erik Canuel (Bon Cop, Bad Cop, TV’s The Dead Zone), written by Matthew Luhrman, Christian Remde and Larry Leahy & produced by Donald C. Archbold, Paul Myler and Larry Leahy.

The film will be shot on location in Ireland and the UK, will be helmed by Montreal-based director Erik Canuel (Bon Cop Bad Cop, Cadavers, The Outlander) with the 3D duties to be handled by veteran 3D stereographer Paul Taylor, The 3D Camera Company and Creative Post.

Producers are currently in talks with British actor Bill Nighy (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Underworld, Pirates of the Caribbean) as well as American actor Jackson Rathbone (Twilight Eclipse, The Last Airbender, Twilight New Moon).

Below are covers from other Peter Straub books, including The Throat and The Green Woman, although none were specifically named in the release.