Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
Stephen King's 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon' batting for the big screen
Hollywood isn't done with Stephen King, not by a long shot. Today, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the horror author's 1999 novel, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, will be adapted for the big screen by George A. Romero's ex-wife, Chris. Via Sanibel Films, she'll be guiding the project alongside It producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Films. Jon Berg (of Vertigo), Ryan Silbert (of Origin Story), and Andrew Childs are also attached as producers.
Published in April of 1999, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon tells the story of Trisha McFarland, a 9-year-old girl who gets lost during a hike with her mother and brother. Left to fend for herself, Trisha finds solace in radio coverage of her personal idol, Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Tom Gordon. As the radio signal fades and something begins to hunt her — something that is leaving a trail of animal carcasses in its deadly wake — our hero imagines that Tom is actually at her side, protecting her from the unseen and bloodthirsty adversary.
“I’m thrilled that my book is being brought to the screen, and that George’s company is involved. Chris (Romero) has worked long and hard to make this project happen,” King said in a statement, per THR.
Gordon is actually a real person and played for the Red Sox between 1996 and 1999. In a New York Times article from 2005, Gordon admitted that "he admired King, but that King had not quite captured his character" in the book.
Prior to his death in the summer of 2017, George A. Romero — father of the modern zombie era — was involved with a film version of Tom Gordon under his Sanibel Films production banner. The filmmaker had previously collaborated with King on 1982's Creepshow and 1993's The Dark Half.
The search for a screenwriter for the movie adaptation is currently underway.
