Stephen King and Sam Raimi team up on Desperation film

Horror icons Stephen King and Sam Raimi are officially collaborating for the first time on a new big-screen adaptation of King's 1996 novel "Desperation." The project, set up at Searchlight Pictures, will be produced by Raimi through his Ghost House Pictures banner, with directing duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein in talks to helm the film.

The adaptation marks a long-awaited partnership between two of the genre's most influential figures. Raimi, the director behind the "Evil Dead" franchise and the original "Spider-Man" trilogy, has frequently expressed admiration for King's work. The author, in turn, famously championed Raimi's 1981 debut "The Evil Dead" early in its release, a gesture Raimi has credited with helping the film find a wider audience.

"Desperation" follows a group of travelers who are kidnapped by the possessed sheriff of a remote Nevada mining town. The travelers must fight for survival against the sheriff, who is under the control of an ancient, malevolent entity named Tak. The official logline describes the story as a relentless fight for life after routine arrests turn deadly.

Ryan Brennan is attached to write the screenplay. Lipovsky and Stein, who directed...