‘Horrorstör’: Movie Adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s Novel About a Haunted IKEA in the Works

IKEA seems like the perfect setting for a horror movie — an unending labyrinth of sleek, Swedish furniture from which there is no escape. So it’s no wonder that Grady Hendrix’s debut horror comedy novel Horrorstör, which centers on a haunted furniture superstore modeled off the Swedish company, was a hit. Now New Republic Pictures, which co-financed and produced the Oscar-winning 1917, is developing a Horrorstör movie with Hendrix set to adapt his own material.

Deadline broke the news that New Republic Pictures has optioned the rights to Grady Hendrix’s Horrorstör to develop into a feature film. The 2013 horror comedy novel, which is set in an IKEA-esque store called ORSK that has been experiencing supernatural phenomena, was the best-selling debut novel of Hendrix, who is on board to write the adaptation.

Hendrix said in a statement to Deadline:

“I wrote Horrorstör to be simultaneously funny and scary, while paying tribute to the retail warriors who staff our big box stores. Having the opportunity to adapt my novel into a movie is a dream come true. I couldn’t be more excited about taking an audience and trapping them overnight with me in the flatpack hell that is Orsk — the ultimate haunted house, full of Infinite aisles, murderous ghosts, and incomprehensible faux-Scandinavian names.”

“Horrorstör is such a fun and inventive blend of satire with a contemporary haunted house story that is so uniquely Grady Hendrix,” added Brett Cohen, President and Publisher of Quirk Books. “And Quirk is thrilled to partner with New Republic and Aperture Entertainment as Hendrix reimagines and further explores this story for a whole new audience.”

Horrorstör was actually set up initially to be a TV series in 2015, with Charlie Kaufman, Gail Berman and Josh Schwartz producing at Fox before the project moved to AMC, but it seems it has now been upgraded to a feature film. Brad Fischer and Brian Oliver of New Republic and Adam Goldworm of Aperture Entertainment are producing, with Brett Cohen of Quirk Books and Hendrix set to serve as executive producers

Horrorstör‘s premise does seem like a perfect set-up for a comedy series — Superstore has already made the antics of big-box store employees into must-watch TV, so add a few “broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes” that point to supernatural hauntings, and it sounds like you’ve got a hit. But Horrorstör could end up a fun and unique comedy film, especially with the right director helming it (with the film’s satirical leanings, Taika Waititi feels like a good choice). And New Republic Pictures seems to have more clout now, after producing Sam Mendes’ Oscar-winning war drama 1917. We’ll have to see how things progress with the Horrorstör movie.

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