A movie version of Claire North’s 2014 SF novel The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is in the works, and the director of the hugely popular Maze Runner films is onboard, according to Observer.
Wes Ball has been hired to direct the upcoming film, after previously helming 2014’s The Maze Runner, 2015’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and 2018’s Maze Runner: The Death Cure, which, combined, have grossed nearly $950 million worldwide. Those movies were based on the first three books in the bestselling dystopian YA book series by James Dashner. Last December the Hollywood Reporter noted that Ball had been hired to direct a future Planet of the Apes film—part of a series that’s loosely based on a 1963 novel by French author Pierre Boule.
Amblin Entertainment purchased the film rights to North’s book, which Ana Grilo of the Book Smugglers blog, in a 2014 column for Kirkus, called “Groundhog Day on Red Bull.” It tells the story of a man who, like a few other similarly gifted people, keeps reliving the same life over and over. He retains memories of his previous existence each time, and during his 12th life, he receives a message about an impending apocalypse, which he sets about investigating.
No casting news or tentative release date has yet been announced, but the novel will be adapted for the screen by Melissa Iqbal, who previously wrote episodes of the SF TV series Humans and Origin.
Claire North is the pseudonym of English author Catherine Webb, who’s written several books under her own name, such as the 2009 middle-grade historical mystery The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle. She’s also written a number of urban fantasy novels as Kate Griffin, including 2009’s A Madness of Angels.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
