With the names Richard Curtis (“Love Actually,” “Four Weddings And A Funeral“) and Stephen Daldry (“The Hours,” “Billy Elliot“) attached, you might think this is automatic Oscar bait, but what they’re cooking up together looks like more of an adventure film with some serious cred behind it.
Variety reports that Working Title has tasked Curtis to adapt the Andy Mulligan kid’s book “Trash” as a directing vehicle for Daldry. Mulligan’s book was initially written for kids but wound up being marketed as a crossover title for adults as well. The story follows three kids in a third world country who earn their living by picking through a garbage dump and one day stumble across something that finds them running from the cops while trying to solve a mystery and put right a terrible wrong.
And things are moving fast on this one. The plan is to get it ready to shoot next year, with Mulligan revealing on his website that production is aiming to take place in Brazil, with Daldry and producer Kris Thykier apparently having strong ties to the film community there.
Until then, both Curtis and Daldry will be chasing Oscar this year. The former penned Steven Spielberg‘s forthcoming “War Horse” which is sure to get some major awards season heat while the latter is currently filming “Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close” with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock which is planned to hit later this year. You can check out the full synopsis of “Trash” from Amazon below:
In an unnamed Third World country, in the not-so-distant future, three “dumpsite boys” make a living picking through the mountains of garbage on the outskirts of a large city.
One unlucky-lucky day, Raphael finds something very special and very mysterious. So mysterious that he decides to keep it, even when the city police offer a handsome reward for its return. That decision brings with it terrifying consequences, and soon the dumpsite boys must use all of their cunning and courage to stay ahead of their pursuers. It’s up to Raphael, Gardo, and Rat—boys who have no education, no parents, no homes, and no money—to solve the mystery and right a terrible wrong.
Andy Mulligan has written a powerful story about unthinkable poverty—and the kind of hope and determination that can transcend it. With twists and turns, unrelenting action, and deep, raw emotion, Trash is a heart-pounding, breath-holding novel.
