In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs and the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

Why we’re looking forward to this: Stephen King has been on a bit of a roll in literary terms of late, and Revival is no exception. We loved the book here at This Is Horror (see our review HERE) and believe this chilling and brutal decades spanning tale of addiction and recovery will make a satisfying leap from page to screen. This will be helped no end but the possible inclusion of Samuel L Jackson as the Reverend Jacobs, who can’t fail to bring the required over the top levels of mania and enthusiasm to the role. Jackson is no stranger to King adaptations, having appeared in the underrated 1408 and recently wrapped filming on Cell, and in our opinion has yet to make a film that wasn’t better for him having been in it.

Josh Boone is set to direct from a script has developed himself, and is very much a King fan having been recently involved with the (hopefully still) upcoming multi film version of The Stand, so fingers crossed that Revival will have us jumping for joy.

Revival is due to start filming later this year.

RICHARD COSGROVE