Universal's 'Locke & Key' Adaptation Finds Writer (Exclusive)

Albert Torres has been tapped to write Locke & Key, Universal's adaptation of the award-winning supernatural comic book series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.

Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Bobby Cohen are to produce as is Ted Adams, the CEO and publisher of IDW Publishing, the company behind the comic.

Locke & Key tells of three siblings who, after the gruesome murder of their father, move to their ancestral home in Maine. They soon discover the house has magical keys that give the bearers a vast array of powers and abilities. Little do they know (but they soon will) that a devious demon also wants the keys.

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The graphic novel collections have been New York Times best sellers, while Hill and Rodriguez have been feted by the comic and publishing community for their work.

An adaptation was previously tackled by Fox TV, which shot a pilot but never moved beyond that.

Universal's Jon Mone and Jay Polidoro are overseeing the project for the studio. Ben Kim is handling development for Kurtzman and Orci's's K/O Paper Products.

Torres wrote the 2008 Luke Wilson dramedy Henry Poole is Here and is now tackling heavy-hitting tentpoles. He worked on a draft of Warners' Akira and Silver Pictures' Ben 10 as well as Hyde, an adaptation of a Dark Horse comic from Paramount and Skydance.

Torres is repped by CAA, 3 Arts Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.