The Director of I SAW THE TV GLOW Will Adapt the Cult Graphic Novel BLACK HOLE for Netflix

Netflix is diving into eerie, surreal territory as they team up with Jane Schoenbrun, the visionary filmmaker behind I Saw the TV Glow, to adapt Charles Burns’ cult-classic graphic novel Black Hole into a new series.

If the news sounds familiar, that’s because Black Hole has been circling Hollywood for years. First published between 1995 and 2005, Burns’ haunting coming-of-age horror story has long tempted filmmakers.

Directors like David Fincher, Alexandre Aja, and Rick Famuyiwa each tried to bring it to life, with Famuyiwa most recently attached to a feature film adaptation back in 2018. None of those versions made it past development.

According to Variety, Schoenbrun has officially signed on to develop the graphic novels for television as well as direct. This seems like a perfect pairing when you consider Schoenbrun’s fascination with teenage alienation, identity, and surreal horror, which are themes explored Black Hole.

The official description of the Netflix series reads: “There’s an old myth that haunts the seemingly perfect small town of Roosevelt: if you have sex too young, you’ll contract the ‘bug,’ a virus that literally turns you into a ‘monster’ from your worst nightmares.

“Absurd, right? That’s what Chris always assumed, until, after one reckless night at the beginning of senior year, she finds herself infected. Now she’ll be cast out to the woods to live with the other infected, where a chilling, new threat emerges: a serial killer who’s hunting them one by one.”

Burns’ Black Hole, which won a Harvey Award in 2006, follows a group of teenagers in 1970s Seattle who contract a mysterious, sexually transmitted disease that causes grotesque physical mutations.

It’s part body horror, part melancholic coming-of-age story, wrapped in moody black-and-white illustrations that have made it a staple of underground comics culture.

While we don’t know if Netflix’s version will retain the ‘70s Pacific Northwest setting, it’s easy to imagine Schoenbrun leaning into that dreamlike nostalgia. Their previous work, including We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and the upcoming Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, shows a distinct ability to capture unsettling emotion through the eyes of disillusioned youth, often blending the mundane with the terrifying.

Black Hole’s moody themes, surreal body horror, and emotional depth line up perfectly with the director’s knack for exploring the liminal spaces between fear and self-discovery.

Given Schoenbrun’s distinct visual and storytelling style, this adaptation might finally be the one that breaks Black Hole’s long streak of development purgatory.