Gary Dauberman’s Coin Operated has secured the rights to Rest Stop, a recently published horror novella by Nat Cassidy, with plans to develop the project as a feature adaptation.
Cassidy is set to adapt the screenplay, with Dauberman and Mia Maniscalco producing through Coin Operated.
Praised by Eric LaRocca as “profoundly devastating… and nasty as hell,” and described by Fangoria as “a platter of phobias served up in a mean, lean novella,” Rest Stop centers on a young musician trapped inside a gas station bathroom in the middle of the night by an unseen assailant, caught between the horrors outside the door and those rapidly emerging within the room itself.
The story was first released as a standalone novella in 2024 and also now serves as the centerpiece of Cassidy’s anthology I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours, which was published on May 5 through Shortwave Publishing and Simon & Schuster.
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“I like to describe this novella as ‘Green Room meets Gerald’s Game,’” says Cassidy. “It’s the closest thing I’ve yet written to ‘extreme’ horror — though I wouldn’t say it goes nearly as hard or gets nearly as bleak as the most extreme ‘extreme’ horror stories I’ve read. Regardless, I’m hoping it makes your next visit to a gas station bathroom even scarier than it would otherwise be.”
Dauberman added: “Like the junk food aisle at any sketchy gas station on the side of the road, Rest Stop has a little bit of everything (that may or may not kill you). Its relentless pace, psychological torment, heartfelt character moments, and many squirm-inducing sequences make it the rare horror story that has all the ingredients for a perfectly terrifying experience on the big screen.”
A USA Today bestseller and Bram Stoker Award nominee, Cassidy’s previous works include Mary, Nestlings, and When the Wolf Comes Home. His plays have been produced nationally, including Off-Broadway and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As an actor, Cassidy has appeared on series including “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Blue Bloods,” “Bull,” “Quantico” and “FBI.” He is represented by Writers House LLC.
Under its production deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Screen Gems, Coin Operated’s first project was the video game adaptation Until Dawn, directed by David F. Sandberg, with Dauberman producing and co-writing.
Upcoming for the company is Passenger, a supernatural horror film from André Øvredal starring Melissa Leo, Louié Lou Loubell and Jacob Scipio, which Paramount Pictures will release on May 22. Also in development is The Revenge of La Llorona, directed by Santiago Menghini and slated for release next year from Warner Bros. Pictures.
Coin Operated’s current development slate also includes a reboot of the 1990s slasher movie Urban Legend; The Medium, based on the horror-themed video game; Ushers, based on a short story by Joe Hill for Screen Gems; and He Never Dies, written by and set to be directed by David Yarovesky.
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