David Leslie Johnson wants to keep the screams coming.
The screenwriter has been hired to write the remake of the Australian horror suspense film “Lake Mungo” for Paramount Vantage.
Vantage picked up rights to “Mungo” in November, when it premiered at the American Film Market. The story revolves around the paranormal events that envelop a grieving family when their teenage daughter apparently dies.
The original, written and directed by Joel Anderson, used a faux-documentary style to lay out the film’s mystery, but the updated version will take a more traditional narrative approach.
Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment (“The Ring,” “The Departed”) are producing with Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton and the film’s original producers, David Rapsey and Georgie Nevile. Screen Australia also will provide support.
The Paradigm-repped Johnson wrote the screenplay for the horror film “Orphan,” which Warner Bros. will release July 24.
Vantage will next release “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard” on Aug. 14.
