Kyrie Irving debuted as a new Hollywood star in the family comedy Uncle Drew, and now he’s moving onto horror.
The NBA player will star in horror movie about a haunted Oklahoma hotel, according to Variety. The film, currently sans a title, will also be executive produced by Irving along with Imagine Entertainment. Sanjay Sharma and The Players Tribune will also have executive producer credits with Irving. Bobby Cohen and Imagine chairman Brain Grazer will produce.
The film will combine satire and social commentary with scares based on an article optioned by Imagine from The Players’ Tribune. The article details the oral histories of NBA players who have stayed at Oklahoma City’s Skirvin Hotel. According to the article, several players will not stay at the hotel because of the hotel’s haunted legacy.
As Trip Savvy reports, a ghost nicknamed “Effie” is supposedly the spirit of a maid who had an affair with the original owner of the hotel, William Skirvin. According to the legend, Skirvin locked a pregnant Effie in a room on the 10th floor, the highest floor before its remodeling, in order to escape scandal. She wasn’t allowed to leave her room even after having her child and she allegedly jumped with her child from the window.
Guests have reported that Effie has made them lose sleep due to the sound of a crying child and a nude Effie has been known to appear in male guests’ showers, propositioning them. There have also been reports from the staff of things moving on their own and creepy noises.
“I’d heard rumors about the Skirvin before, but once we realized that by coupling the deliciously eerie with the fascinatingly relevant, we were on to something big with this one,” said Cohen according to Variety. “Kyrie is an ideal collaborator and this is a great movie to make with Imagine.”
Irving is following the path many basketball stars have taken since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game of Death. The current crop of NBA stars making moves in Hollywood include Stephen Curry and LeBron James. In fact, Space Jam 2, starring James, will be produced by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and directed by Random Acts of Flyness‘ Terrence Nance. It is speculated that the film will be out sometime in 2021.
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