Cherokee Folklore Thriller ‘Spearfinger’ Set For February Start Date

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EXCLUSIVE: All Roads Productions has set a February production start for Spearfinger, a Cherokee folklore thriller that will be shot in the Appalachian Mountains in February 2020. Skyler Caleb, Woodrow Hancock and James Zimbardi are writing/producing under their All Roads Productions banner. Gary Rubens is financing and executive producing, sharing the latter duties with Anthony E. Zuiker, who created the CSI TV series franchise.

The thriller tells the story of Spearfinger, or U’tlun’ta, a figure in Cherokee legend that lived along the subrange of the Appalachians, also called the Great Smokey Mountains. “U’tlun’ta”, which translates from Cherokee to “she had it sharp”, refers to the sharp finger on the figure’s right hand. As the legend goes, the sharp finger resembled a spear or obsidian knife, which she used to cut her victims and devour their livers. Hancock, who has family in the Appalachian Mountains, first heard the legend of Spearfinger while hiking the Appalachian Trail. This will be the first time the story of Spearfinger is brought to the screen.

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“Horror is hands down my favorite genre, so I jumped at the chance to work with the guys on this project,” said Zuiker. “I really see this as a way to leverage my 20+ years of working in the writers room to help them craft a narrative for this film that not only brings the story of this incredibly creepy legend to life, but weaves in the mystery that is the landscape of the Appaliachian Mountains.”

Caleb, Hancock and Zimbardi and their All Roads Productions generated Awaken the Shadowman, a supernatural thriller starring Jean Smart and distributed by Gravitas, with Rubens also executive producing. Zuiker’s CSI creation morphed into numerous spinoffs and his cross-platform Cybergeddon became the first digital blockbuster for Yahoo! He also pioneered the “Digi-novel” genre and is the author of the best-selling series Level 26, published by Dutton/Penguin Group.

Zuiker is repped by Lighthouse Management & Media, CAA, and Morris Yorn Barnes.

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