Joko Anwar Sets Village Roadshow’s ‘Fritzchen’ As First English-Language Project; Michael Voyer Adapting Charles Beaumont Story

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Indonesian helmer Joko Anwar (Impetigore) is preparing to make his English-language debut with Fritzchen, an adaptation of the classic short story by Charles Beaumont, which is in development at Village Roadshow.While the story published in 1953 examines a boy’s encounter with a strange creature on the beach, blending elements of sci-fi and horror, details with regard to the film’s plot are being kept under wraps.

Michael Voyer (The Broodmare) is adapting the script, with David Kopple on board to produce for Entertainment 360. Village Roadshow recently optioned the short story and will serve as the project’s financier.Beaumont was an acclaimed science fiction writer best known for penning such Twilight Zone episodes as “The Howling Man,” “Static,” “Miniature,” “Printer’s Devil” and “Number Twelve Looks Just Like You.” He also wrote the screenplays for films including Brain Dead, The Masque of the Red Death, 7 Faces of Dr.

Lao, The Haunted Palace, Night of the Eagle, The Premature Burial and Queen of Outer Space, as well as such novels as Run from the Hunter and The Intruder, while publishing nine anthologies of short fiction.

Beaumont was also the subject of Jason Brock’s 2010 documentary Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man.Anwar is an acclaimed genre filmmaker whose feature Impetigore was selected as Indonesia’s Oscar entry for 2021.