Horror maestros Jordan Peele (Get Out, Nope) and Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Drag Me to Hell) are teaming up to produce a feature adaptation of Portrait of God, the viral short from emerging filmmaker Dylan Clark.
Per Deadline, who reported the news earlier today, Universal Pictures has acquired the spec script written by Clark and Joe Russo (The Inheritance).
While the plot of the Portrait of God feature is being kept under wraps, the short centers on a religious young woman who discovers the disquieting answer to the question, “What does God look like?”:
Opening with a quote from the Old Testament — “No man shall see Me and live” — it finds Mia sitting in the dark, practicing a slide presentation about a work of art dubbed “Portrait of God.” To some who view the painting, she says, it appears completely black. But others report seeing a person in the darkness — one who’s been described time and again, in consistent detail. Minimalistic yet menacing, the short offers a counterpoint to the idea of God as a benevolent entity. Viewers of the portrait, beware.
Deadline let us know that Peele and Win Rosenfeld will produce the Portrait of God feature adaptation through Monkeypaw Productions‘ first-look deal with the studio, alongside Raimi and Romel Adam through Ghost House Pictures, and Russo. Chris Rosati will executive produce, with Sam Evenson to co-produce. Jose Cañas will oversee the project for Ghost House, with Kate Oh overseeing for Monkeypaw, and Executive Vice President of Production Development Sara Scott overseeing for Universal.
Since being uploaded in 2022, Clark's Portrait of God has racked up over 8 million views on YouTube, spawning numerous analysis videos from freaked out viewers. Overall, YouTube horror is a hot topic right now, what with the Philippou Brothers making the leap from the platform to A24 with Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, Chris Stuckmann's Shelby Oaks a hit for NEON this year, an upcoming Backrooms adaptation also at A24, and Curry Barker's Obsssion and Anything But Ghosts racking up big studio deals following his viral short Milk & Serial.
Stay tuned for updates on Portrait of God, and check out the original short, below. For more Internet creeps, here's 9 creepypasta stories that deserve a feature film adaptation (and who should direct them).
