Alexandre Aja has signed on to direct Mandate Picture’s upcoming adaptation of Joe Hill’s acclaimed horror novel HORNS.

The intriguing premise behind HORNS finds a guy waking up after a particularly debauched party with a raging hangover. And a dead girlfriend. Oh, and a pair of horns on his head. Did we mention he also has new mind powers, allowing him to influence others to do his bidding? Using his newfound abilities, he sets out to prove his innocence and find the real culprit behind his girlfriend’s murder.

Writer Keith Bunin will pop his feature cherry by taking care of the script, with Mandate looking at a summer 2012 shoot. Shia LaBeouf (TRANSFORMERS) is also thought to be the frontrunner for the lead, a casting decision that is likely to ruffle more than a few feathers now the actor is inexplicably almost universally disliked. 

We’re looking forward to Aja getting to grips with some decent material for a change, as the early promise he showed with his debut HAUTE TENSION (aka SWITCHBLADE ROMANCE outside its native France) gradually watered down as he chose remake after remake (MIRRORS, PIRANHA, THE HILLS HAVE EYES). Although to be fair we did think he actually managed to improve on Craven’s original. Controversial, us? 

We’ll have more on this as it hits…

Have you read HORNS? Is Shia a good fit for the role? Let us know in the Comments below or on Twitter @Starburst_Mag