Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Columbus and 1492 Pictures have acquired screen rights to The Cypress House, a Michael Koryta novel that Columbus will write the script for and produce with 1492 partners Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe. The story is set along an isolated stretch of the Florida Gulf Coast during a devastating 1935 hurricane. The protagonist is a WWI veteran who’s plagued by premonitions of death for his traveling companions.

Columbia and his 1492 cohorts just produced the Tate Taylor-directed adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s bestseller The Help, which will be released in August. Columbus is separately developing to direct a remake of the Korean film Hello Ghost. The company is also developing Temple Stay with director JK Youn and production/finance partner CJ Entertainment & Media. Kortya’s repped by Angela Cheng Caplan and David Hale Smith. His new thriller, The Ridge, will be published June 8.