Though film adaptations of comic book and graphic novel are usually associated with superhero films, there has been a wide variety of comic-to-film adaptations, from “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” to “My Friend Dahmer.” Now, Focus Features is entering the graphic novel game with a film adaptation of “Patience,” with Charlie McDowell set to direct.
Deadline has the scoop on “Patience,” reporting that the director of “The Discovery” and “The One I Love,” Charlie McDowell, will take directorial duties for the film adaptation of Daniel Clowes‘ graphic novel. McDowell, is also writing the script with his writing partner Justin Lader. Jim Burke and Steven Snyder are producing via Innisfree Pictures.
“Patience” is described as a novel “about sacrifices in the name of love.” A man named Jack one day discovers a time machine, and decides to try and safe his wife Patience, who was murdered in their apartment years earlier. The graphic novel is full of brighty colors used in contrast with the dark subject matter, and relies on surrealistic sci-fi imagery to tell its story, as Jack “plunges into a psychedelic journey through Patience’s past and the events that shaped her into the woman he knew and loved.” Clowes earned an Oscar nomination in 2001 for writing the script for the film adaptation of his comic “Ghost World.”
According to Deadline, Focus Features has tried to adapt the graphic novel “for several years.” It may be that “Patience” ends up being a film in the same vein as “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” because based only on the plot description, the project doesn’t sound like anything Focus Features has done in recent years.