Here’s a notion for you: “Dante’s Inferno, for Kids!” Yes, hard to wrap your head around, but that’s the basic premise of HECK: WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO, a young adult book series written by Dale E. Basye. MGM is reportedly adapting the first book (for starters) and, according to NY Mag, the studio is looking at Alex Timbers, the Tony-nominated writer and director of last year’s Broadway rock musical “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” and “The Pee Wee Herman Show”, to helm the film.
Here’s the synopsis for the book:
When Milton and Marlo Fauster die in a marshmallow bear explosion, they get sent straight to Heck, an otherworldly reform school. Milton can understand why his kleptomaniac sister is here, but Milton is—or was—a model citizen. Has a mistake been made? Not according to Bea “Elsa” Bubb, the Principal of Darkness. She doesn’t make mistakes. She personally sees to it that Heck—whether it be home-ec class with Lizzie Borden, ethics with Richard Nixon, or gym with Blackbeard the Pirate—is especially, well, heckish for the Fausters. Will Milton and Marlo find a way to escape? Or are they stuck here for all eternity, or until they turn 18, whichever comes first?
Since this appears to be in the very early stages, it’s too soon to tell when this flick will move forward (if indeed Timbers – who has never directed a feature film – is hired). It’s a clever, fun story and seems ripe material for a unique feature film.
From Timbers’ “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” Jeanine Serralles
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