CHALLENGERS Writer Justin Kuritzkes Hired to Adapt CITY ON FIRE Novel Into Film Starring Austin Butler
Justin Kuritzkes, who wrote the upcoming Zendaya film Challengers, has just signed on to adapt City on Fire, the first of a bestselling novel trilogy by Don Winslow. The film will star Austin Butler (Elvis).
Winslow’s swan song trilogy – the final installment City in Ruins is just landing on the bestseller lists after being published by William Morrow – is a modern retelling of the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid and Greek tragic dramas set in the world of contemporary crime.
The novel was acquired a year before the publication of first installment City on Fire in a mid-seven-figure outright purchase in 2021. City of Dreams followed, and all three books have received superb reviews.
Winslow considers the trilogy to be his last book writing effort, though many of his bestsellers will live on, as series and film adaptations are in the works all over town.
Kuritzkes will start at the beginning, a struggle between two criminal empires — one Irish, the other Italian — that control all of New England, until a modern-day Helen of Troy tears them apart and starts a brutal war.
Butler will play the main character, Danny Ryan, who is forced to grow from a street soldier into a ruthlessly efficient leader to protect his friends, his family and the home he loves.
Fighting the Mafia, the local cops, the feds – everyone – Danny is determined to build a dynasty or will die trying.
Are you excited to see this book series developed into a film?
via: Deadline