The 1981 Stephen King short story The Jaunt (popularized by its inclusion in 1985 collection Skeleton Crew) will be made into a feature film by Andy Muschietti, director of Guillermo del Toro-produced horror flick Mama.
Deadline reports that Plan B (Brad Pitt's production company) optioned the rights to the tale, which first appeared in Twilight Zone Magazine:
It's a futuristic tale that takes place in the 24th century, as a father explains the ground rules for "Jaunting," a form of teleportation the family will be using shortly to go to Mars. The key is that travelers must be under anesthesia for the short journey, or terrible things happen to the mind of those being jaunted around the solar system. Time stands still and one's brain implodes with too much time to think in an absence of external stimulation. Bad things happen.
It'll be interesting to see how Muschietti (who'll develop the film with Barbara Muschietti, his sister, with whom he co-wrote Mama) turns what's a pretty brief tale with a killer payoff ("Longer than you think, Dad!") into a feature film. Note also that King short stories have had a more-than-decent track record when it comes to cinematic conversions, yielding (to name but a few) Children of the Corn, Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and ... Maximum Overdrive.