Dreamworks Animation is looking to adapt the fantasy novel Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez. They’ve tasked Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris with the writing duties — a pair that has seen story credits for Kung Fu Panda and the upcoming Robin Hood, and they also created/exec-produced the TV series Sleeper Cell. Barry Sonnenfeld is currently attached to direct.

The novel centers on a vampire and werewolf who happen to be friends, and come upon an all night diner after running low on gas. There they discover that the diner has a recurrent zombie attack problem, and are enlisted by the diner manager to help out. They soon find out that zombies aren’t the only supernatural phenomenon occurring around the diner, and ultimately have to help stop a local couple from summoning the old gods — which has the potential to end the world.

I could see this adaptation turning into a potentially fun Dreamworks project, and the fact that Reiff and Voris were involved in Kung Fu Panda gives me hope. I haven’t read the book, but the concept alone makes it sound as if it has the potential to be a CG Monster Squad meets Shaun of the Dead.

As for Sonnenfeld, the project also reminds me of his beloved (at least by me) Addams Family films, which makes me think he could actually pull this one off. After Men in Black 2 and RV, he’s stuck mostly to television (he was a major creative force and early director for Pushing Daisies). He’s also signed on to direct The How to Guide for Saving the World, and developing Swift as a directorial vehicle alongside screenwriter BenDavid Grabinski.

[Source: Variety]