Carter Swan to Adapt Horror Comic The Crying Boy for Film

A painting of a crying child is heading for the big screen.

Producer Carter Swan is developing a film adaptation of The Crying Boy, the Keenspot horror comic series, as reported by Deadline on 28 September 2026.

The comic was created by writer Niall O'Rourke and artist Rob Moran and first published in 2024. It centres on a grieving widow in Queens, a borough of New York City, who tries to save her young son from an ancient demon housed in a painting of a crying child. It is a family ghost story.

The run began as single issues put out in serialised form. The first issue is now in its third printing, which means the publisher has gone back to press twice to meet orders from shops. The series also earned a Ringo Award nomination for Best Single Issue or Short Story, a prize voted on within the comics industry.

A deluxe collection of the series is planned for 2027. It would arrive through Keenspot's book distribution deal with Simon & Schuster, which puts the publisher's titles into bookshops beyond comic stores, according to Deadline.

Rona Mark is writing the screenplay for the film version. Swan, who spent nearly eight years as a senior producer at PlayStation Productions through the end of 2025, is leading the development, the early stage where rights are secured and a script is prepared.

His credits include Resident Evil, HBO's The Last of Us, Uncharted, Gran Turismo, Twisted Metal and Until Dawn. He earned Emmy nominations in 2023 and 2025 as an executive producer, a senior role that oversees a production from above the day-to-day shoot, on The Last of Us.

Keenspot, the publisher behind the comic, was founded in 2000 and is led by chief executive Chris Crosby. The company first moved into film with the 2022 Universal romantic comedy Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. Its first animated adaptation was Grubbs, based on comics by Max Weaver.

The publisher is now developing two more animated features. They are Toy, starring Kate Micucci, and Kung Fu Legume, starring Sherry Cola and Kheng Hua Tan, as reported by Deadline. The slate shows a small comics house working across live action and animation.

For fans, this means a short-run horror comic gets a second life. No studio, cast or release date has been announced. The next step is the script.