Taika Waititi In Talks to Direct Feature Adaptation of Next Percival Everett Novel JAMES
After author Percival Everett saw his novel Erasure win the Adapted Screenplay Oscar for the film American Fiction, he teamed with Universal Pictures to set up an adaptation of his latest novel, James.
Director Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) in talks to helm the project. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, Everett will adapt the screenplay and exec produce, alongside Steven Spielberg for Amblin Partners.
“A modern reimagining of Mark Twain’s classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn published by Doubleday in March, James watches as the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, meaning that he’ll potentially be separated from his wife and daughter forever.
“Subsequently, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town.
“Thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.”
In addition to being an instant New York Times bestseller, James was named a “Best Book of the Year so Far for 2024” by the New York Times Book Review and was named the #1 best book of the year so far by Amazon.
A Distinguished Professor at USC and the author of more than 30 books of fiction and poetry, Everett is also known for works like I Am Not Sidney Poitier, So Much Blue, Pulitzer Prize finalist Telephone, and the Booker Prize-shortlisted The Trees.
via: Deadline