Horror Comic 'Tag' Gets Film Treatment From Fox And 'Annabelle' Director

Sounding a bit like the It Follows story model applied in a different way to a zombie story, the comic series Tag, by Kieth Giffen and Kody Chamberlain, features a setup where a man is turned into a rotting fleshpile after a simple touch from another. But there's an upshot, maybe: he can tag someone else to pass on the curse rather than decomposing.

Now the collected Tag story is being turned into a film, from Fox and John Leonetti, who directed The Conjuring spin-off Annabelle last year.

Deadline reports; this was almost a Universal project, as the studio had the comic rights for a while. But that package lapsed, and under the terms of the first-look deal set up between publisher Boom! Studios and Fox, the movie is now being made there.Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (Stephanie, which is coming soon from Blumhouse) are writing.

This is how Boom! Studios describes Tag. You can read a preview of the first few pages here.

An average joe strolls down the street after a fight with his girlfriend when a random stranger TAGS him, handing off an ancient curse! He literally begins to die – and rot – seeing his body begin to decompose every day before his very eyes. Cursed, he must either surrender, or find the next victim to TAG...

Fox doesn't really do horror, with releases like Poltergeist being a rare exception of late, and even that film was more of an MGM and Ghost House production. When Fox does horror, it looks more like the upcoming Victor Frankenstein, which is a horror-influenced tale with an action/adventure sheen. (See also: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.)

And, in fact, this seems to be positioned not really as outright horror, with Deadline saying the film "will be designed as a psychological thriller with elements of supernatural horror and focus on a female protagonist."