Universal is going on a date with a ghost.
The studio is developing Dan and Sam, a supernatural romance based on the 2015 graphic novel by Mark Watson and Oliver Harud.
Heat Vision breakdown
Hikari, the filmmaker behind Berlin International Film Festival award winner 37 Seconds, will direct the adaptation, which will be written by Molly Smith Metzler, who has written on Shameless and Orange is the New Black.
Marc Platt and Adam Siegel will produce through Universal-based Marc Platt Productions alongside Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger, who will produce through Automatik Entertainment.
Dan and Sam tells of a young couple who have it all, until the woman, Sam, dies unexpectedly. Dan, however, discovers that love transcends the physical world when Sam is allowed to visit him one night a year. But there’s a catch: It’s only until he falls in love again.
The project was previously set up at Amblin.
Automatik’s Rian Cahill will executive produce. Universal’s senior vp of production Sara Scott and director of development Lexi Barta will oversee the project on behalf of the studio. Ryan Christians will oversee on behalf of Marc Platt Productions.
Hikari, who hails from Japan, wrote, directed, and co-produced 37 Seconds, which was her debut feature that went on to win two awards at Berlin, including the Panarama Audience Award. It went on to screen at the Tribeca Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival with Netflix acquiring the film and released it earlier this year.
Smith is already writing a project for Universal, the adaptation of coming-of-age best-seller The Thing About Jellyfish, which landed on the 2017 Black List. Her adaptation of Stephanie Land’s award-winning novel Maid was recently greenlit to series at Netflix, with her acting as creator and showrunner. She is also executive producing alongside Margot Robbie and John Wells
Hikari is repped by WME, Grandview and Jackoway Tyerman. Metzler is repped by Grandview and McKuin Frankel.
