Hammer films is to co-produce a big screen adaptation of Cherie Priest’s acclaimed novel Boneshaker with Cross Creek Pictures.
The film will be co-financed by Hammer owners Exclusive and Cross Creek Pictures with a screenplay by Nurse Jackie writer John Hilary Shepherd.
An example of “steampunk” science-fiction, which incorporates futuristic innovations into a Victorian setting, Priest’s novel is set in an alternate version of 1880s Seattle, where the city has been walled in and a toxic gas has turned many of its remaining residents into “Rotters,” more commonly known as zombies.
A young widow hunts for her teen son in the Seattle underworld, while dealing with airship pirates, a criminal overlord and heavily armed refugees.
The book has three sequels, Dreadnought, Ganymede and Inexplicables which will be published by Tor books in 2012.
“Boneshaker is a classic zombie movie with a modern twist which is quintessentially Hammer so it’s a perfect fit for us,” said Hammer CEO Simon Oakes.
