‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ Scribe Daniel Handler To Pen Horror Film Based On Golem Legend For Leviathan Productions

Matt Grobar
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Ben Cosgrove and Josh Foer’s Leviathan Productions has tapped Daniel Handler, the visionary behind the hit children’s book series A Series of Unfortunate Events, to pen a contemporary horror film based on the Golem legend from Jewish folklore, which Cosgrove will produce.

Considered the Jewish Frankenstein, the Golem’s story is one of the most enduring legends from Jewish tradition, and has been the subject of numerous books and plays. The film updates the story, which first appeared in 15th century Prague, to the present day, where a young woman on a college campus finds herself terrorized by a creature with a mysterious past.

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Handler wrote the A Series of Unfortunate Events books under the pen name Lemony Snicket, seeing them be adapted into both a hit movie from Paramount, as well as a Peabody Award-winning Netflix series. He’s also written books including The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, How to Dress for Every Occasion, by the Pope, Adverbs, Why We Broke Up, We Are Pirates, All the Dirty Parts and Bottle Grove, among other works, seeing them sell more than 70 million copies and be translated into 41 languages.

An independent production company founded by veteran producer Cosgrove and bestselling author Foer, Leviathan focuses on creating premium film and television content based on Jewish stories.

The company is currently looking to adapt Leonard Slater’s book The Pledge — centered on the true story of the men and women who led the underground effort in the United States to acquire and transport planes to Israel in advance of the War of Independence — as well as the novel The Secret Chord by Pulitzer Prize-winner Geraldine Brooks about the rise and reign of Israel’s King David.

Also in the works is playwright Anna Ziegler’s adaptation of her own award-winning play Photograph 51, which starred Nicole Kidman during its run in the West End. That project tells the story of Rosalind Franklin, the brilliant Jewish scientist who discovered the structure of DNA, only to see credit for her discovery taken by Watson and Crick.

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