The Girl in the Woods: Krysten Ritter and Jacob Chase direct Peacock series

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The Peacock streaming service has ordered an eight episode series based on the CryptTV shorts The Door in the Woods and its sequel The Girl in the Woods, with the series taking the title The Girl in the Woods. Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter, who made her directorial debut with a season 3 episode of that show, has signed on to direct four of the eight episodes of The Girl in the Woods, while Come Play director Jacob Chase will be taking the helm of the remaining episodes.

The Girl in the Woods is set in the Pacific Northwest and follows 

Carrie's escape from her mysterious, cult-like colony that guards the world from monsters hidden behind a secret door within the woods.

Written and directed by Joey Greene, The Door in the Woods was released in 2018. The short starred Eric Prochnau, Carissa Bazler, Roman Dean George, Cameron Rico, Chance Keller, and Erica B. Marie Avila, and told the story of "the children of a rural cult family who find a door in the woods that has been carefully protected for many years."

Directed by Roxine Helberg from a script by Jasmine Johnson and Van B. Nguyen, the sequel The Girl in the Woods followed in 2020. Starring Kal Penn and Peyton List, that one was set "seven years after the attack on the colony, with Carrie training under a reclusive mentor to reclaim her power and defend herself against the monsters." 

Casey Modderno is head writer on the series adaptation and will serve as co-executive producer alongside Ritter, Johnson, and Jeremy Elliott. Chase is a producer, and Greene and Cameron Fuller co-producers. The series is being executive produed by CryptTV's Jack Davis and Darren Brandl.

Davis had this to say about the project: 

Girl In The Woods is Crypt’s most ambitious adaption of our IP to date. We are thrilled to have such special talents in Krysten Ritter, Casey Modderno and Jacob Chase bringing this series to life with grounded characters taking on meaningful themes and plenty of scares. Crypt prides itself on telling norm breaking, innovative genre stories and our audience is going to love watching this show on Peacock, who has been a spectacular partner."

Ritter added: 

As a huge fan of horror and all things coming of age, this is one of the most exciting pilot scripts I’ve gotten my hands on. I fell in love with the characters, the writing, the setting, and the themes the second I read it. I also loved Crypt’s original short The Door in the Woods and the universe they are building.  I’m so thrilled to have the opportunity to helm this badass female driven monster hunting series with Jane Casey Modderno, Crypt and Peacock."

I haven't watched the CryptTV shorts, but this does sound like an interesting idea.