"Locke & Key" Film Gets A New Writer

Heat Vision says that Albert Torres ("Henry Poole is Here") will write the adapted script for the film version of the award-winning supernatural comic book series "Locke & Key" at Universal Pictures.

Set in a small Massachusetts village, the story follows a mother and her three children who move into their family estate after her husband is murdered. The vast estate has many areas only accessible by special keys. A malevolent force within the house lures the husband's killer to the town to finish off the rest of the family.

Torres has worked on several high profile adaptations in development like the "Akira" remake, "Hyde" and "Ben 10".

Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez created the comic which was originally going to be adapted by "Transformers" and "Star Trek" scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman into a single feature--That collapsed.

And then in 2011, the FOX Broadcasting Company decided not to order a series adaptation. This even as a Mark Romanek-directed pilot starring Miranda Otto, Nick Stahl and Jesse McCartney was produced and got high marks from reviewers who saw it.

Two years ago there came word that Orci and Kurtzman were planning to turn the property into a film trilogy at Universal.

Kurtzman, Orci and Bobby Cohen remain as producers.