EXCLUSIVE: David Slade’s feature adaptation of horror novel Dark Harvest is now scheduled to open on Sept. 24, 2021.

The project repped MGM Film Group Chairman Michael De Luca’s first notable deal at the studio upon his recent arrival. Dark Harvest was previously set up at New Regency which put the project in turnaround.

Dark Harvest will go up against Paramount’s release of the new My Little Pony movie and an untitled Universal event movie on its new date.

Dark Harvest, based on Norman Partridge’s novel, is set on Halloween in 1963 and centers around the October Boy aka Ol’ Hacksaw Face aka Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. He rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death. Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He’s willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror–and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy.

Matt Tolmach and David Manpearl are producers on Dark Harvest thru Matt Tolmach Productions. That label is hot off the success of the last two Jumanji movies and Venom, which combined have grossed over $2.6 billion. Michael Gilio is adapting Dark Harvest and will also serve as EP.