Blumhouse Productions has announced that it has set Issa Lopez (Tigers Are Not Afraid) to write and direct Our Lady of Tears, a film adaptation of Daniel Hernandez’s recent Epic Magazine article ‘The Haunting of Girlstown‘.
The article focuses on a mass hysteria epidemic with supernatural roots, that in 2007 spread through Villa de las Niñas, an all girls, Catholic boarding school in the outskirts of Mexico City. The school recruited and isolated socially neglected girls coming from families living in extreme poverty and in remote areas of Mexico.
“The moment I read the Epic article, I knew I wanted to tell this story,” said Lopez. “I myself attended a Catholic school in Mexico City. I grew up on a steady diet of supernatural visitations and miracles, and of the real life horrors that young girls who grow up in poverty face every day in Mexico, and around the world. Having the chance to tell that story with Jason and his team, producers of such socially incisive genre classics like Get Out, and of so many true horror gems, is a huge privilege. I couldn’t be more excited about this movie.”
“The Blumhouse team was enthralled by the original article and Daniel’s deep reporting around such a terrifying and heartbreaking story,” added producer Jason Blum. “Ever since I first watched Tigers Are Not Afraid, I have wanted to find a project to collaborate on with Issa and I knew this was a perfect fit. I can’t wait for audiences to see her take on this material.”
Lopez is currently working on a werewolf movie project which is being produced by Guillermo del Toro, and recently signed on to write and direct an adaptation of a short story entitled Lost Souls.
