Charlie Kaufman‘s career isn’t conventional by any stretch. As a writer, he’s seen tremendous success thanks to “Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation,” and “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.” As a director, while “Synecdoche, New York” and “Anomalisa” may have been critical darlings, mass audiences didn’t exactly flock to them. The filmmaker has taken a rare dip in blockbuster waters, writing the upcoming YA adaptation “Chaos Walking,” but generally speaking, his own high concept, oddball narratives aren’t the easiest pitch to executives. Kaufman is acutely aware of the state of his career, and two years back, he admitted that he thought “Anomalisa” would open some doors for him, but was disappointed when it didn’t happen.
“Y’know, I’m disappointed it got these great reviews and it didn’t do any business,” Kaufman said in 2016. “It doesn’t make me dislike the movie. I still really like the movie and I’m still glad we made it, but I was thinking when Paramount took it on I thought, ‘Well, O.K., this is gonna make some money and this is gonna help my career.’ I don’t think it hurt my career, but I don’t think it gave it that thing where it’s like, ‘O.K., this guy is viable. We can make a movie and people will go and see it.’ And I think especially because the reviews were so extraordinarily good, because with ‘Synecdoche[, New York] ’ it was divided. There were great reviews and then [other] people hated it. It’s like you could sort of see why people wouldn’t go to it because of that. This was like, ‘Why this time?’ And I don’t know the answer and I never will, but it’s frustrating to me in that regard.”
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Well, God bless the folks at Netflix, because the streaming giant is using their $8 billion war chest for original content this year to back “I’m Thinking Of Ending Things,” which will be written and directed by Kaufman. Based on the book by Iain Reid — which features a book blurb by Kaufman — the story follows a suicidal woman en route to meet her boyfriend’s parents, before he unexpectedly deserts her and drives off alone. Here’s the book synopsis:
In this deeply suspenseful and irresistibly unnerving debut novel, a man and his girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. When the two take an unexpected detour, she is left stranded in a deserted high school, wondering if there is any escape at all. What follows is a twisted unraveling that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.
Sounds great, we’re in. We’re thrilled that a new movie from Kaufman is on the way, and even more that he’ll have an instant, global audience for whatever he’s cooking up next.