Stephen King's 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon' Becoming A Movie Written By ' I Am Not Okay With This' Co-Creator

A movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon has been on the periphery for years, with the late George A. Romero once attached to write and direct. And while Romero is sadly no longer with us, Tom Gordon lives on. Last year, word broke that a Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon movie was still in the works, with Romero's former wife Christine Romero. Now here's an update. Village Roadshow Pictures have optioned the rights, and I Am Not Okay With This co-creator Christy Hall has been tapped to pen the script.  

Deadline is reporting that Village Roadshow is now handling the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon movie. As was reported last year, Jon Berg of Stampede Ventures is producing with It Chapter Two producer Roy Lee, Christine Romero, the former wife of George Romero, and Origin Story's Ryan Silbert. And now, the pic has a writer: Christy Hall, co-creator and writer of I Am Not Okay With This.

Published in 1999, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is one of King's smaller books (it's only 224 pages, which is short for King). It's also mostly a one-person show, as the story primarily focuses on a young girl who gets lost in the woods. The Maine woods, of course, since this is a Stephen King book. Here's the synopsis:

On a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror. As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her – protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods...

I wouldn't call this one of King's best books, but it is pretty good. The biggest problem with the material, though, is that it's not exactly cinematic. Most of the book is entirely within Trisha's mindset as she stumbles around the woods, growing more disoriented and confused. It's all very internal, and there's bound to be some changes to better convey that on the screen.