It was announced today that Blumhouse has plans to produce a film adaptation of the Epic Magazine article, “The Haunting of Girlstown,” written by Daniel Hernandez. The property is to be developed into a feature film entitled Our Lady of Tears. The story, which also appeared in Vox focuses on a mass hysteria epidemic with supernatural roots, that in 2007 spread through Villa de las Niñas, an all girls, Catholic boarding school in the outskirts of Mexico City. The school recruited and isolated socially neglected girls coming from families living in extreme poverty and in remote areas of Mexico.

Attached to write and direct is Issa López, who made a splash with her recent film Tigers Are Not Afraid. Says López, “The moment I read the Epic article, I knew I wanted to tell this story. I myself attended a Catholic school in Mexico City. I grew up on a steady diet of supernatural visitations and miracles, and of the real life horrors that young girls who grow up in poverty face every day in Mexico, and around the world. Having the chance to tell that story with Jason and his team, producers of such socially incisive genre classics like Get Out, and of so many true horror gems, is a huge privilege. I couldn’t be more excited about this movie,” López said about the project.

“The Blumhouse team was enthralled by the original article and Daniel’s deep reporting around such a terrifying and heartbreaking story. Ever since I first watched Tiger’s Are Not Afraid, I have wanted to find a project to collaborate on with Issa and I knew this was a perfect fit. I can’t wait for audiences to see her take on this material,” said Jason Blum, Blumhouse co-founder and CEO. Blum will produce with Epic’s Joshua Davis and Arthur Spector. Epic co-founder Joshuah Bearman will executive produce. Our Lady of Tears will be produced by Blumhouse in association with Epic Media.