From Bloody Disgusting: 

After getting praise for his work on the first season of “American Horror Story,” Dylan McDermott is returning to the genre with a role in the fantasy horror project Mercy for Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions, says Variety.

Pic is based on a Stephen King story from his “Skeleton Crew” collection. Frances O’Connor, Chandler Riggs and Joel Courtney are also set star.

The Haunting in Connecticut‘s Peter Cornwell is directing from a script by Matt Greenberg. Jason Blum will produce with McG and Mary Viola from Wonderland Sound and Vision.

From Just Jared Jr.

Joel Courtney steps out with Katherine McNamara at the premiere of The Impossible held at Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood on Monday night (December 10).

It was just announced that the 16-year-old actor has joined Universal’s new horror film, Mercy, based off of the book by Stephen King.

The story revolves around two brothers (Chandler Riggs, Courtney) who go with their mother to take care of their grandma. Unbeknownst to them, the grandmother is a witch, who made an evil deal using black magic years earlier.

“Did you know that both @ChandlerRiggs & I have starred as sons of a sheriff – me in ‘Super 8′ & Chandler as the son of sheriff Rick Grimes [on The Walking Dead],” Joel tweeted of his new on-screen brother.

From Best Horror Films: 

"Mercy" is among the latest adaptations of a Stephen King story and it seems that the casting for this project has already started. As per the sources, the cast includes the members of the cast from “The Walking Dead” and Super 8 and the process would be finalized within a few days.

Reports have suggested that Chandler Riggs, the child star from AMC’s The Walking Dead, would be joining the cast. Besides, the Super 8 star, Joel Courtney, has also signed up for the project. Universal pictures would join hands with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Production for the production of Mercy.

This would be a fantasy-horror film based on Stephen King’s short story named “Gramma”. This story was published in his 1985 collection of short stories called Skeleton Crew.

The film will be directed by Peter Cornwell while the script has been written by Matt Greenberg. Frances O’Conner will also be one of the main stars of the film. The story of the film revolves around two young boys who are taken by their single mother to the house of their elderly and weak grandmother, to take care of her. However, subsequent turn of events reveal that their grandmother is actually a witch who had made a pact with the forces of darkness years ago.

The film is expected to be released in the summer of 2013.

From Teen Stars World: 

Chandler Riggs and Joel Courtney is set to star in Stephen King adaptation of Mercy.

the horror thriller flick, revolves around two brothers (Riggs, Courtney) who go with their mother to take care of their grandma. Unbeknownst to them, the grandmother is a witch, who made an evil deal using black magic years earlier.

Peter Cornwell is directing the movie while Jason Blum and McG and Mary Viola are producing.

From The Film Stage: 

After being announced earlier this fall, casting is coming together for yet another horror film fromParanormal Activity producer Jason Blum. According to THR, Chandler Riggs, who lends his talents to AMC’s The Walking Dead, as well as Super 8 star Joel Courtney will be joining the adaptation of Stephen King‘s Mercy.

Peter Cornwell (The Haunting in Connecticut) will be directing the horror thriller, which centers on two brothers (Riggs and Courtney) “who go with their mother to take care of their grandma. Unbeknownst to them, the grandmother is a witch, who made an evil deal using black magic years earlier. Frances O’Connor has already signed on to play the boy’s mother.

The story is based on King‘s 1984 short story Gramma, which was a part of his Skeleton Crew collection and the feature script come from Matt Greenberg. The screenwriter is no stranger to the horror genre, as his past works include Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, anotherKing adaptation (1408), as well as the upcoming Pet Sematary remake.

As for the newly added stars of the project, Riggs plays Carl Grimes onDead, which has served as his break-out role at the young age of 13. Thanks to his acting debut in Super 8, Courtney has been able to book several other projects since them. The young star just wrapped the indie drama Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, where he plays former character.

From Cinema Blend: 

Stephen King’s short story Gramma was published in Weirdbook magazine back in 1984. And while countless King stories have made their way to the silver screen over the years (decades, really), Gramma has long been overlooked. Not any more. Peter Cornwell is stepping up to direct the horror thriller, using the title Mercy, and casting officially is underway. 

THR says that Super 8 standout Joel Courtney and The Walking Dead co-star Chandler Riggs have been tapped to play young brothers who go with their mother to help with their grandmother. What they don’t know is that their “Gramma” is a witch who struck an evil deal via black magic a long time ago. 

Cornwell helmed The Haunting in Connecticut back in 2009, and reportedly has hired Frances O’Connor (A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Jayne Mansfield’s Car) to play the kids’ mother. Now they need to hire a horrible grannie. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a hundred interested parties, right? 

King, meanwhile, is having a bit of a renaissance. Years ago, Hollywood routinely looked to the author’s canon for ideas. Then, they stopped. But recently, John Cusack has revealed plans to adapt Cell, based on the novelist’s recent book; Justin Long is doing Ten O’Clock People, based onanother short story; Chloe Moretz, of course, is starring in a Carrie remake; and Warner Bros. wants Ben Affleck to direct an update of The Stand. 

Busy, busy times on the Stephen King front, though our most anticipated title, The Dark Tower, seems to have hit too many roadblocks. But if enough people start coming back to theaters for King adaptations maybe that massive project can get back on track soon enough. 

From MovieHole: 

Chandler Riggs and Joel Courtney will star in “Mercy”, the Peter Cornwell-directed film adaptation of the Stephen King short story “Gramma”, says THR.

The horror pic, set up at Universal, “revolves around two brothers (Riggs, Courtney) who go with their mother to take care of their grandma. Unbeknownst to them, the grandmother is a witch, who made an evil deal using black magic years earlier”.

Australia’s Frances O’Connor is set to play the mother.