‘Bone Tomahawk’ & ‘Brawn In Cell Block 99’ Director S. Craig Zahler To Helm ‘Hug Chickenpenny’

So far in his career, S. Craig Zahler has made movies with terrific titles that lived up to every vowel and consonant they contained. “Bone Tomahawk” delivered on the raw-nerved promise of its name, while “Brawl In Cell Block 99” was all that suggested and so much more (it’s awesome). Zahler’s next film is titled “Dragged Across Concrete,” and while I could look up the premise and tell you what it is, honestly, if you’re not thrilled by the title, maybe just stay away. Now, the filmmker is shifting gears just a bit, with the kind of movie that sounds pulled from the younger, more ambitious days of Tim Burton.

Deadline reports that Zahler will helm “Hug Chickenpenny” (see what I told you about movie titles), an adaptation of his own novel, with the much longer name, “Hug Chickenpenny: The Panegyric of an Anomolous Child.” Said to be in the vein of “The Elephant Man,” but with a gothic twist, the story will follow the journey of a strange young boy. Here’s the book synopsis:

Hug Chickenpenny is an anomalous child. Born from tragedy and unknown paternity, this asymmetrical and white-haired baby inspires both ire and pity at the orphanage, until the day that an elderly eccentric adopts him as a pet. The upbeat boy’s spirit is challenged in his new home and as he is exposed to prejudiced members of society in various encounters. Will Hug and his astronautical dreams survive our cruel and judgmental world?

Perhaps the coolest thing about the project is that Jim Henson’s Creature Shop designers will create puppet versions of the title character, but something tells us this story won’t exactly be for kids.

No word yet on when filming might begin, but Zahler is in post-production on “Dragged Across Concrete,” while the book “Hug Chickenpenny: The Panegyric of an Anomolous Child” hits shelves on January 23, 2018.