Lily Gladstone is set to star in a film adaptation of Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Ogawa’s novel was originally published in Japan in 1994; an English-language edition, translated by Stephen Snyder, was released in the U.S. in 2019; it was a finalist for both the International Booker Prize and the National Book Award. The novel follows the residents of an island where objects mysteriously disappear and law enforcement officials make sure they are never remembered. One of the residents is a young writer who hides her editor, threatened by the police, under her floorboards.
A critic for Kirkus called the novel “a quiet tale that considers the way small, human connections can disrupt the callous powers of authority.”
Gladstone is the only cast member of the adaptation to be announced. She made history earlier this month when she became the first Native American to win the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama film, as well as the first Native actor to be nominated for the best actress Oscar, for Killers of the Flower Moon.
The adaptation of The Memory Police will be written by Charlie Kaufman, known for screenplays including Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Reed Morano (I Think We’re Alone Now, The Rhythm Section) is attached to direct, while Ogawa and Martin Scorsese will serve as executive producers.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
