According to Variety, DreamWorks together with Frank Marshall are developing a film inspired by the Urban Legend of “Cropsey” . In the 1970’s Cropsey became a real life boogeyman who is blamed for the disappearance of seven children around Staten Island. Cropsey is believed to live in the woods surrounding the Willowbrook mental institution as well as living in the tunnels underneath the hospital. Willowbrook was closed in 1987 after a disturbing expose by Geraldo Rivera titled ‘Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace‘ exposed the horrid conditions that the patients were living in. Eventually a drifter named Andre Rand was arrested and tried in connection to the disappearances.
In Dreamworks’ version of ‘Cropsey’ a group of kids at summer camp are haunted by the legend that dates back to the Colonial period. Richard Naig and Ian Goldberg are set to pen the script for the film. Naig and Goldberg have teamed up before. The duo wrote the script for the ‘Friday the 13th’ reboot. ‘Cropsey’ is still in the very early stages of preproduction.
If you would like to know more about the legend of Cropsey there is a great documentary simply titled ‘Cropsey’ (2009), written and directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio.