Blumhouse has officially announced that Golden Globe and Emmy winning-actor Donald Sutherland and Jaeden Martell (Knives Out) have officially signed on for the leading roles in Netflix’s upcoming film adaptation of Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, based on Stephen King’s short story from his 2020 novella If It Bleeds. This project marks Martell’s latest Stephen King project after previously starring in Warner Bros. Pictures’ hit coming-of-age horror films IT and IT: Chapter 2.
#BREAKINGNEWS ALERT — #DonaldSutherland + @jaedenmartell will star in #MrHarrigansPhoneMovie written & directed by #JohnLeeHancock. The film is based on @StephenKing’s short story and will start production this month. pic.twitter.com/m34G9uY9t1
— Blumhouse (@blumhouse) October 1, 2021
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Described as in the same tone as Stand By Me, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone follows the story of a young boy in Maine as he befriends an old and retired billionaire named Mr. Harrigan, who first bonded together through an iPhone. When Mr. Harrigan dies, the teen puts the phone in his pal’s pocket before burial and when the lonely youth leaves his dead friend a message, he is shocked to get a return text from beyond the grave.
The project was first announced more than a year ago after Netflix, Blumhouse Productions and Emmy-winning creator Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) had teamed up to acquire the film rights to the horror short story.
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The film adaptation of Mr. Harrigan’s Phone will be written and directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks). It is being produced by Murphy, Jason Blum, and Carla Hacken, with Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold and Scott Greenberg to executive produce.
Production is expected to begin this month and is currently targeting a 2022 debut.