Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s dark fantasy epic Locke & Key has won so much fan love and critical praise that many a heart was broken when its TV series adaptation was axed after a first-rate pilot episode was produced but never broadcasted. (If you know someone who has a copy, borrow it. It really is wonderful.) Fortunately, Hollywood remained interested the IDW comic book series, and genre producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman stepped in to shepherd a film adaptation for Universal. Now we’ve received word that the production has a new screenwriter — Albert Torres.

Torres isn’t a well-known name in fan circles just yet. His previous feature film credit is the 2008 Luke Wilson starrer Henry Poole is Here. But he’s impressed enough folks with his writing chops that he’s recently been assigned a number of high-profile nerd-friendly films, including the upcoming adaptations of Akira, Ben 10, and Dark Horse’s Hyde. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Bobby Cohen are to produce as is Ted Adams, the CEO and publisher of IDW Publishing…” No word yet on whether a series of Locke & Key films would tackle the series’ six volumes as a rate of one per film, but if Warner Brothers can squeeze three movies out of The Hobbit, I’m sure Universal can plan a healthy run of this multi-generational Eisner Award-winning horror saga.

Who would you like to see cast in a Locke and Keye film? Let us know in the comments below!