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Paul W.S. Anderson will direct Nether Station and its sequel Nether Vortex, a two-film adaptation of Kevin J. Anderson's science fiction horror series from Weird Tales Presents. Jonathan Wakeham (High Value Target, To Catch a Killer) is writing the script. Deadline broke the news.
The timing works out well: Nether Vortex hit stores on October 27 from Blackstone Publishing's Weird Tales Presents imprint.
The series follows Cammie Skoura, a brilliant, neurodivergent young scientist on a deep-space expedition. The crew finds a trail of ancient ruins and long-dead alien civilizations, and it leads them toward a discovery that breaks minds. Cammie is a singular lead in the vein of Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit, and her story mixes space exploration with the kind of cosmic dread Weird Tales has published since 1923.
There's a nice circle here. Event Horizon, Paul's 1997 film about a starship that comes back from beyond known space carrying something unspeakable, is one of the most influential space-horror films ever made, and Kevin has said it directly influenced Nether Station. Now the director who shaped the book's fears gets to put them on screen.
"Space is scary. Think of how terrifying it would be all alone out in the cold, dark oblivion," Kevin said. "I tried to put all my fears and paranoia into Nether Station, and powerful films like Event Horizon were extremely influential in the writing. I couldn't imagine a better director for this project than Paul W.S. Anderson."
"I've been a long-term fan of Kevin's work, and to say it is cinematic is an understatement," Paul said. "I was thrilled to read Nether Station, the galleys of its sequel, and also talk in detail with him about how he plans to expand the terrifying universe that he is creating. Lovecraftian cosmic horror, as experienced by a unique, young central character in Cammie Skoura, has all the ingredients for an unbelievably compelling and terrifying cinema experience."
Paul's films (AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Mortal Kombat, six Resident Evil films) have grossed $2 billion in theaters and opened at #1 in the US seven times. He'll direct and produce both films with his partner Jeremy Bolt (Event Horizon, Death Race), and John Harlacher and Tony Eldridge (The Equalizer franchise) from the Weird Tales team.
Kevin J. Anderson has more than 24 million books in print in 34 languages. His Lucasfilm novels helped build the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and he has co-written more than twenty Dune novels with Brian Herbert. He worked on all three recent Dune films from Legendary, is an executive producer on Dune: Part Three, and co-produces HBO's Dune: Prophecy, based on his and Brian's Sisterhood of Dune.
Jonathan Wakeham wrote Midas Man, starring Jacob Fortune-Lloyd and Emily Watson, and To Catch a Killer, directed by Damián Szifrón with Shailene Woodley and Ben Mendelsohn. His limited series High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam, starring Joel Kinnaman, premiered on TNT in September.
The New York Times Book Review called Nether Station "a fun, pulpy mix of science fiction and cosmic horror" and "a must-read for anyone who loves to be reminded of just how little the universe cares about us." Locus put it more simply: "Cosmic horror at its finest."
Weird Tales is repped by Brittney Brunelle and Lesley Sabga for The Seymour Agency, and Adam Kolbrenner at Lit Entertainment.
Both books are out now from Weird Tales Presents.