Paramount has tapped the writing team of Bennett Yellin and James Johnston to pen the horror screenplay "Let's Scare Jessica" for Christine Peters' CFP Prods.
Story centers on a fearless young man at a college in Colorado who, while pledging a frat, must prove his allegiance to the house by scaring his girlfriend into believing the college is haunted. The prank then takes on a life of its own.
Title's taken from the 1971 chiller "Let's Scare Jessica to Death," in which a woman just released from a mental hospital tries to start over by moving into an old New England farmhouse.
Yellin's writing credits include "Dumb and Dumber" and "Stuck on You."
CFP president Bradford W. Smith and director of development Oliver Obst will supervise for the shingle, and Par exec VP Brian Witten will oversee for the studio.
Peters was a producer with Robert Evans and Lynda Obst on Paramount's "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Her shingle's developing a sequel, "How to Tell He's Not the One in 10 Days," with Lynda Obst, as well as "Fashionistas," based on Lynn Messina's novel, and features based on vidgames "Area 51" and "Fear and Respect."
Contact Dave McNary at
dave.mcnary@variety.com