Louis Leterrier to Direct Adaptation of Upcoming Joe Hill Novel ‘The Fireman’

He may not be as prolific as his father yet, but Stephen King’s son / fellow author Joe Hill is slowly getting there with a confident library including titles like Locke & Key, Horns and NOS4A2. Hill’s works are similarly ripe for adaptation, and further cementing his increasing popularity is Fox’s recent acquisition of the rights to his forthcoming novel, The Fireman, with Now You See Me director Louis Leterrier on on board to helm the adaptation.

Deadline reports that Leterrier has signed on to direct The Fireman, based on Hill’s next novel, which hits shelves on May 17. Leterrier previously directed the first two Transporter films, as well as 2008's The Incredible Hulk and Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming action comedy The Brothers Grimsby.

Hill’s latest story centers on a pandemic that causes individuals to spontaneously combust after they’ve been infected by a highly-contagious spore. A group of brave souls set out in a race against time to stop the pandemic, led by a mysterious hero known as the Fireman. Also at the heart of the story is a generous nurse who has devoted her time and energy in this quickly-incinerating world to treating survivors who all succumbed to the pandemic one by one until the hospital itself burned to the ground.

Pregnant and infected with the virus, the nurse joins up with the heroic group in a desperate effort to survive and successfully give birth to her child.

Hill’s novel Horns was recently adapted into a film starring Daniel Radcliffe, while NOS4A2 is in development as a series at AMC. Locke & Key was also set to become a series on FOX, then a film at Universal with Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) directing, but development on that project stalled out and it’s heading back to the small screen (fingers crossed).