As “The Divergent Series” circles the drain, the folks behind “The Hunger Games” figure out what to do next, and “The Maze Runner” deals with an unfortunate delay, it seems Hollywood’s taste for YA fare has hit a lull. But there will always be tweenagers looking to channel their emotions through highly metaphorical fantasies, and another one is brewing but this one has a twist.
Four years ago came the news that Charlie Kaufman (“Anomalisa,” “Synecdoche, New York“) was taking an unexpected gig adapting “The Knife Of Never Letting Go,” the first book in Patrick Ness‘ “Chaos Walking” YA series. A little while later, Robert Zemeckis boarded the project, but that’s about the last that was heard of it. But the project now has some new life with THR reporting that Dough Liman will take over the directors’ chair.
This one seems to be moving along quickly with Lionsgate looking to start production this fall, which shouldn’t be a surprise given that ‘Hunger Games’ is now finished, at least until they figure out a way make prequels or spin-offs. Not to mention they are also home to ‘Divergent,’ which already looks like a lost cause. Presumably, this means Liman’s mooted project for this summer, “The Wall,” is off the table (there didn’t seem to be much movement around it since it was first announced), and his return to “Gambit” looks more and more unlikely with each passing day.
“Chaos Walking” follows Todd Hewitt and Viola Eade, and takes place on an Earth-like planet that humans have colonized. When an infection called The Noise sweeps through that causes everyone to be able hear each other’s thoughts, Todd discovers a space of rare silence, only to find out somehow Viola is able to create the noise-free space, and the two are forced to go on the run. And that’s all well and good, but all you had to do was tell us that Doug Liman was directing a script by Charlie Kaufman and we’d be there already.