“Breathing Technique” is a novella by writer Stephen King, published in 1982 in the anthology “Spring, Summer, Autumn and Death”. It has been rumored for years that ‘The Black Phone’ creator Scott Derrickson would be working on a film adaptation of the 90-page short story, which centers on the heavily pregnant Sandra Standsfield, who is decapitated in a car accident and still gives birth to a child .
It would have been the last novella from ‘Spring, Summer, Autumn and Death’ (comprising ‘The Condemned’, ‘The Model Student’, ‘Stand By Me’ and ‘Breathing Technique’), which has not been adapted until now . for the screen, nor as a standalone paperback. During an interview with Scott Derrickson has now announced that he no longer has anything to do with the project:
“Breathing Technique” by Scott Derrickson is no longer available
“I don’t know where the rights lie. I don’t even know if it’s currently in development. I had a script developed with Scott Teems, who worked on the Halloween films. And he did a great job directing and I really liked the script. It was very imaginative and a truly compelling adaptation. Unfortunately, it ultimately led nowhere. I’m not working on it anymore, so I have no idea what the current status is.”
In 2012, there was first talk of a film adaptation of ‘Breathing Technique’. Then it became known that Derrickson was involved. He had just delivered the horror hit ‘Sinister’ with Blumhouse and had previously proven himself as a competent genre filmmaker with ‘Hellraiser: Inferno’ and ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’. Scott Teems was also confirmed as screenwriter more than ten years ago.
It’s unclear at this point whether Scott Teems (who recently provided the templates for “Insidious: The Red Door” and “Firestarter”), unlike Derrickson, still has something to do with the project. The same applies to the production status. But you can assume that the whole thing is still – if at all – in a very, very early stage of development. When and if “breathing technology” will go into production cannot be predicted at this time.