Universal Pictures has landed an intriguing new project from Issa Rae and Jordan Peele. Deadline first broke the news.

The movie, titled Sinkhole, is described as “a thought-provoking genre piece that engages with questions of female perfection and identity.”

The report reads, “In a low seven-figure deal, Universal beat out more than 10 studio bidders and multiple talent and filmmaker packages for screen rights to Leyna Krow’s short story, which is about a young family which moves into their dream home, except for the gaping sinkhole in the backyard. The mysterious sinkhole manages to fix broken and destroyed things. However, the story asks, what if that thing is a person?”

Rae will produce and potentially star in the film. Peele’s Monkeypaw will be behind the project. He and Win Rosenfield will produce for Monkeypaw. While Montrel McKay and Sara Rastogi join Rae in producing for Issa Rae Productions. The project falls under Monkeypaw’s five-year deal with Universal.

Krow will executive produce the film. Her story was initially published in the literary journal, Moss. She is from Spokane, Washington and the store takes place on the real-life street which she lives on. “She was initially inspired to write the piece when a group of local writers were asked to write short fairytales on the theme ‘I Married A Monster,'” states Deadline. “She wanted to explore the notion of female perfection and was particularly interested in the ways society and cultures can promote the concept of women as imperfect or broken. Her story has the trappings of a grounded, psychological sci-fi/horror, but the sub-plot is a commentary on the human condition through the lens of female identity.”

The project is still in development so a start date is unknown, especially considering the coronavirus pandemic.

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