Lionsgate to Develop CHAOS WALKING with Charlie Kaufman
Lionsgate thinks they've found the next big movie franchise with the young adult novel series called Chaos Walking, created by Patrick Ness. I've never heard of this book series, but apparently it has the potential to be a big futuristic Hunger Games kind of franchise. The studio has done something really interesting with the development of this franchise... they've set screenwriter Charlie Kaufman to adapt the first book in the series. For those of you who need a reminder of what films Kaufman has worked on, he's got Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Being John Malcovich and more. He's a great screenwriter, I just never thought he'd do anything so commercial like this, it doesn't seem like his style.
The story for the series is a thriller set in a dystopian future that "follows a boy and girl on the run from a town where all thoughts can be heard — and the passage to manhood embodies a horrible secret." Here's a full description of the first book in the series, The Knife of Never Letting Go...
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.
It does sound like a cool story that will make for an entertaining movie. The fact that Kaufman will be developing it for the big screen is pretty damn cool as well. I've enjoyed all of the films he's written, and I'm interested to see what he does with this adaptation. Do you think he's a good choice to take on this material? Have you ever read the books? If so, do you think it will translate well for the big screen?