The public is most familiar with James Murray from his 15 years as one of the stars of “Impractical Jokers,” the hit hidden camera show where Murray and some of his oldest friends prank each other and embarrass each other in front of unsuspecting viewers.

But Murray has also embraced the darkness with a lucrative side job, one that will unleash scares in movie theaters.

Murray is the co-writer and producer of the upcoming horror film “Don’t Move,” which hits theaters on September 11. Lyndsy Fonseca, rapper Russ, Tom Cavanagh, Hunter King, Joseph Lee Anderson and Rob Riggle star in the indie film, which follows a group of campers who stumble upon a nasty giant prehistoric spider.

The story is an adaptation of Murray’s 2020 novel of the same name, which he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Darren Wearmouth. Beyond his work on “Jokers,” Murray has been a prolific author, publishing nine books he co-wrote since 2018. Before working in television, he earned a degree in writing from Georgetown University, but he also looks at his work through the eyes of a businessman.

“‘Don’t Move’ was my fifth book and it came out a few years ago. It was always my dream and intention to adapt my books into movies or television shows,” he says. “That was the plan from the beginning, to create the characters, to create the intellectual property, and I get to do what I do, which is I love launching and selling and making something happen out of nothing.”

Murray found an essential partner in bringing “Don’t Move” to the big screen in one of his best friends of 25 years, independent director Maclain Nelson. The couple met when Nelson was a starving young comedian in New York City. He ended up opening for Murray and became friends with the rising star, before going his own way to direct films in a host of different genres.

Years later, when Nelson confessed that he had not yet had the opportunity to read one of Murray’s books, he was given a copy of “Don’t Move.”

“I was at his house and I disappeared,” Nelson says. “He thought I was gone and I went home. I read the book in one sitting. Honestly, it reminded me of ‘Tremors’: the fear, the sci-fi, but also the heart of the community coming together to fight this. And I said, ‘James, we have to make this into a movie.’ And this is corny, but we pinky swore.”

The pinky oath proved binding, as Nelson wrote the script in six weeks. Murray says he was inspired not only by the speed of his friend’s work, but also by the quality.

“He did it,” Murray says. “I can say this because I wrote the book: the script was better than the book. It had heart that the book doesn’t necessarily have. I’m a huge horror fan; the book is pretty brutal. Mac not only nailed the tone and the characters, but he added a lot of extra layers of heart and emotion to the scenes that weren’t necessarily in the book, and he really captured the spirit of our writing. I was like, ‘Shoot, man, I have to fulfill this pinky oath now.'”

Murray began assembling a unique group of actors for the film, many of whom had worked with the “Impractical Jokers” on various projects. But despite having their goals lined up, Nelson and Murray were not warmly received on traditional Hollywood stages.

“Not many people believed in us in the industry,” Nelson says. “People like to have a one-track mind. They look at James: ‘Yeah, he made one of the most successful cable shows of all time, but can he make horror movies? We don’t know anything about that.’ I’ve made most of my career doing romantic comedies and. For people to say, ‘Well, can Maclain make this horror movie?’ You have that feeling of “No, stay in your lane.” We would have meetings; We tried the more traditional way of getting funding for the study. At one point, we looked at each other and said, ‘What are we doing? “For our entire career, we’ve done it ourselves.” James literally hit the ground running. We did the little pilot together that launched his work ‘Impractical’, and we did it together on a shoestring budget: nothing.”

When it comes to distribution, Murray had a similar experience going the independent route. Despite having a successful show, when the “Impractical Jokers” made a feature film, they couldn’t get distribution.

“We didn’t have a formal distributor, so the network paid us to make the movie and then we couldn’t get a distributor,” Murray says. “This was six years ago, 2020, and we shot the movie in 2018. So it went two years without a distributor. And then we booked the theaters ourselves through AMC’s distribution program. The first weekend, we were in 200 theaters. The second weekend, we were in 800. Then we jumped to over 3,000… and then COVID shut us down. It was March 2020. But at that time, the movie finished pulling in $14, 15 million. So it was an initial test of the exact distribution model that is fashionable now.”

For “Don’t Move,” the team turned to Centurion Film Service, the company that helped Markiplier turn “Iron Lung” into a fan-requested, self-released $51 million box office sensation.

“There are great filmmakers who haven’t been able to get through the studio system, who have great ideas that need a non-traditional way to get to the screen,” says Murray. “I think theaters need that content too, those fresh voices. We’re telling our fans, ‘This is a heart and soul passion project. We have a great cast. You’re going to love it. Here’s the trailer, it’s great. You’re going to love the movie. We promise, please come and see it.’ And we’re going to do exactly the same thing.”

That spirit, harnessed through “Impractical Jokers” fans as well as fans of the cast, is part of the reason the “Don’t Move” team is doing their premieres a little differently. They will take place in Kansas City, where the film was filmed, as well as Los Angeles and New York City, where fans can purchase tickets and be close to the action. Additionally, Murray plans to attend as many screenings as he can to personally show his appreciation to the people who support this independent film.

“I’ll be in more theaters popping up all over California,” he says. “Then I’ll be in Texas, appearing in theaters that weekend. And then I’ll be traveling around the United States doing that, which I think you have to do in these times. You have to be there and believe in your project so much that you say, ‘I’ll go there too to personally thank you for coming.’ Because if you’re spending your hard-earned money and hiring a babysitter and leaving the dogs at home and taking your car and making the trip to the theater to see a movie, and spending “$20 of your hard-earned money to see it, I want to be there personally to thank you for doing that. I think that shows the DNA of the project.”

Watch the exclusive trailer for “Don’t Move” below.