NBA Star Kyrie Irving Joins Haunted Hotel Movie (EXCLUSIVE)

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – NBA Star Kyrie Irving will star in and executive produce a currently untitled horror movie with Imagine Entertainment about an Oklahoma hotel that has a reputation of being haunted.

has preemptively optioned an upcoming Players’ Tribune article, an oral history of experiences from NBA stars who have stayed at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City. The hotel is frequented by traveling NBA teams, but some players refuse to stay there because of its reputation. The hotel was opened in 1911 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The film will be produced by Imagine Entertainment chairman Brian Grazer and Bobby Cohen. The Players Tribune and Sanjay Sharma will executive produce along with Irving, who recently starred in the sports comedy “Uncle Drew.” He played for six years with the Cleveland Cavaliers and is currently in his second season with the Boston Celtics.

“Having had my own interesting experiences at the Skirvin Hotel, I connected with this idea immediately,” said Irving. “To work with Brian Grazer is a dream come true, and I’m excited to bring this project to life with the Imagine Entertainment team.”

The project is being developed as a horror film blending scares, satire, wit and social commentary inspired by the folklore of the Skirvin Hotel. The hauntings are believed to have started in the 1930s when the hotel’s owner had an affair with a chambermaid which led to her tragic demise. The film is the first to originate from Cohen’s recently announced pod producing deal with Imagine Entertainment.

“I’d heard rumors about the Skirvin before, but once we realized that by coupling the deliciously eerie with the fascinatingly relevant, we were on to something big with this one,” Cohen said. “Kyrie is an ideal collaborator and this is a great movie to make with Imagine.”

The Players’ Tribune was Derek Jeter, retired New York Yankees player and current Miami Marlins’ owner, as a platform for content from the players point of view.