From the story collection “Four Nails in the Coffin”
Nothing better than reporting on news regarding guys we know, further, guys we know who are the real deal. In this case, I’m talking about Mark Wheaton, one of the first writers I met when I jumped into my journalism career a decade ago. Wheaton moved out of the field and pursued creative writing (scripts, fiction). Today, the press release below landed on my lap concerning a short story of his that is coming to the screen. Check it out!
Music video director Morna Ciraki will make her feature directing debut with the horror film, Sunday Billy Sunday, having optioned the self-published indie bestseller from screenwriter Mark Wheaton who has penned the adaptation. The film is intended for a 2012 festival release.
A novel of religious hysteria, Sunday Billy Sunday tells the story of a Dallas-area priest, Father Billy Acosta, who believes heâs been shown a miracle by God. Instead of being uplifted, ensuing weeks of doubt make him demand to see a second one. Driven crazy by what he feels is God’s silence, he heads to his church’s East Texas summer camp to massacre 99 kids – one at a time – to bring about Divine Intervention. Among the campers are four teenagers who are forced to come of age in the Texas woods, cut off from civilization, as their friends begin dying in horrific fashion.
Praised by critics including Rue Morgue (âGenuinely twisted and engrossingâ¦may just leave you shaken for daysâ), CHUD (âPossibly the best slasher homage Iâve ever read.â) and Fangoria (âpersonal favoriteâ¦remarkably character-drivenâ¦Wheaton, unhindered by producers and directors eager to tame genre properties to studio conventions, proves here to be a quite gifted storyteller undeniably worthy of an interested readerâs time and attention.â), Sunday Billy Sunday has the unusual distinction of having appeared on Amazonâs Gay & Lesbian Fiction and Religious Fiction bestseller lists at the same time.
A native of Croatia with law degrees from both University of Zagreb and Pepperdine University, Cirakiâs first job after graduation was working at the International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague.
âReligiously motivated violence created a bloodbath in former Yugoslavia and itâs a subject Iâve always wanted to explore in film. I was excited to find a writer of Markâs talent tackling the subject in a smart, provocative and commercial way,â Ciraki says.
Ciraki began her career in film working at RKO, having been involved on the finance side with Stephen Frearsâs Cherie and as a producer on Brad Isaacsâs forthcoming Have Dreams, Will Travel. She recently completed a music video for Japanese pop star Seiko, working with Janusz Kaminski as the D.P. and featuring an acting role by Quincy Jones.
Wheaton has written several horror screenplays including The Messengers, Friday the 13th Infected and the forthcoming Fangland and serves as an executive producer on the forthcoming Voice from the Stone set to star Maggie Gyllenhaal. Outside film, Wheaton created the critically-acclaimed comic book The Cleaners for Dark Horse. He began self-publishing straight-to-Kindle horror novellas in 2009 and has routinely entered the Amazon horror and science fiction bestseller lists with his stories including Bones, Last Tuesday, Night of the Scorpions and Sunday Billy Sunday.
âSunday Billy Sunday wasnât a story I considered filmable until Morna presented her vision for the project,â Wheaton says. âHaving heard her edgy and unique plans, Iâm very excited to help bring this to the big screen.â
Ciraki initially worked with Wheaton as the development executive on the adaptation of Evan Connellâs best-seller Son of the Morning Star for director Oliver Stone.
Source: Shock Till You Drop
