Horror writers Joe Russo and Chris LaMont are taking their talents to Venmo. Well, they’re adapting the short story from Holly Riordan to be more specific. Deadline had the news first. Frank and Ivanna Borin are directing the film with Matt Smith and Dan Gedman on board to produce via their company HIghway 10.

The original short story was published on the website Thought Catalog in 2022 and titled “A Complete Stranger Sent Me 10K Via Venmo – But There Was A Catch.” In the film, an assistant struggling to survive in Los Angeles is thrown a lifeline when a complete stranger offers her increasingly large sums of money to do stranger and stranger challenges. She must then decide just how far she’s willing to go to pay her bills.

“We’ve been obsessed with When a Stranger Venmos from the moment we read it,” said Frank and Ivanna Borin. “We were pulled in by how this horror thriller takes the anxiety of modern-day survival in today’s America and turns it into something sharp, fast, and terrifying. It’s the kind of story that speaks directly to what young people are feeling right now and that’s the secret weapon of the genre.”

Producers Smith and Gedman said, “Russo and LaMont’s fast-paced thriller immediately excited us with its compelling mystery, franchisable villain, and most importantly the culturally relevant questions it was asking of what Gen Z is both forced and willing to do to get ahead in the modern world. We have long wanted to work with Frank and Ivanna Borin. Their style, sensibility and connectivity to youth culture make them the perfect directors for this project.”

Joe Russo recently sold Portrait of God to Universal Pictures with producers Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele on board. The duo of Russo and LaMont wrote The Inheritance, Hard Kill, The Locksmith, Soul Mates, and The Au Pair Nightmare.

We’ll keep you updated on this story as it develops.

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Source: Deadline

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