EXCLUSIVE: Rising screenwriter Jenna Mattison has been tapped to script an adaptation of Decorum at the Deathbed, the 2021 novella from Bird Box‘s Josh Malerman, for the New York Times bestseller’s production house Spin a Black Yarn.
Released exclusively as an Audible Original, Decorum at the Deathbed follows a grieving widow that starts a twisted affair with the detective investigating the mutilated deer that keep appearing in the forest behind her house. But as the relationship deepens he begins to wonder if she’s truly a victim or a sociopathic killer. A disturbing and terrifying tale unearthing the dark shadows of the mind and finding redemption in the most unexpected of places.
The story is described as an elevated psychological thriller — Body Heat meets Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. The search for a director is underway, with Malerman and his producing partner Ryan Lewis (Bird Box, Incidents Around the House) set to produce for Spin a Black Yarn.
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Mattison is no stranger to bestselling authors, having adapted novels by James Patterson and Sophie Kinsella, as well as being brought on in 2024 to adapt Dying to Be Me, the New York Times bestselling cancer memoir by Anita Moorjani. Currently, she’s serving as writer and executive producer on a TV series in development at Universal based on an international bestseller from Patterson. She’s also in pre-pro on Haunted, another of her films to be shot in Thailand with the Sundance and Independent Spirit Award-nominated Rosemary Rodriguez (The Walking Dead, The Good Wife) directing. Previously, Mattison wrote, directed and produced The Sound, a psychological thriller released theatrically by Orion and Samuel Goldwn.
Malerman is best known for his New York Times bestseller Bird Box, the post-apocalyptic horror thriller adapted into Netflix’s 2018 film of the same name. Directed by Susanne Bier and starring Sandra Bullock, the feature take stood for a time as the most popular film in the streamer’s history, currently sitting at #5 on Netflix’s most popular films list. A spin-off sequel, Bird Box: Barcelona, on which Malerman was an EP, premiered on Netflix in 2023.
Just recently, Malerman set up a feature adaptation of his horror novel Incidents Around the House at Universal, with Jessica Chastain to star and Rob Savage directing, as we were first to report. Atomic Monster and Blumhouse will produce in association with Spin a Black Yarn, with pre-production underway.
Mattison is repped by Gersh, manager Geoff Silverman of Evoke Entertainment, and Cohen & Gardner; Malerman by Ryan Lewis of Spin a Black Yarn, Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency, and Wayne Alexander of Alexander Lawrence Frumes & Labowitz.