Amazon Studios has secured the rights to The Dwelling, an unpublished short story by Aaron Jayh, in a competitive auction that saw several studios vying for the project. Michael B. Jordan and Liz Raposo’s Outlier Society will produce the film, with Jordan potentially starring in the lead role. The story follows a retired football player who discovers a buried house in his backyard, which leads to a mind-bending journey where he questions what is real and imagined. The film will be adapted by Aaron Guzikowski, best known for his work on Prisoners and Raised by Wolves. Amazon won the bid against Netflix, and the sale marks the eighth short story deal for Ground Control and Verve's David Boxerbaum.

For Outlier Society, this comes at an opportune time as they bask in the success of Creed III, which has earned $250 million globally. Outlier has a deal with Amazon and is lining up its next film. The short story market has proven to be a lucrative avenue for deal-making, particularly in the genre space. Other short story sales brokered by Glassgold and Boxerbaum include I Am Not Alone, The Occupant, My Wife & I Bought a Ranch, We Used to Live Here, Caretaker, I Think My Mother-In-Law Is Trying to Kill Me, and Wilderness Reform.

Ground Control's Scott Glassgold is producing The Dwelling alongside Jordan and Raposo. Glassgold is currently in post-production on Sony Pictures’ HorrorScope and is gearing up for Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell’s next film. Outlier is represented by WME, M88, and Johnson Shaprio Slewett & Kole. Guzikowski is represented by Verve & Adam Kolbrenner at Lit Entertainment Group, while Jayh and Ground Control are represented by Verve and Ashley Silver.