Australian novelist and poet Luke Davies, whose screenplay for the 2016 film Lion was nominated for an Oscar, will adapt Irish author Colum McCann’s new novel, Apeirogon, for the screen, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
McCann’s novel, which received a Kirkus Star, tells the story of two men—Israeli Rami Elhanan and Palestinian Bassam Aramin—who become peace advocates following the deaths of their daughters in separate incidents related to the Middle East conflict. In a recent interview, McCann told Kirkus that he based the characters on men he met during a visit to Israel and Palestine.
No casting news or prospective release date was announced for the adaptation. Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin Entertainment, purchased the film rights to Apeirogon shortly before its Feb. 25 publication by Random House, as the Hollywood Reporter noted at the time.
Davies’ 1998 debut novel, Candy, about a romance between two heroin addicts, was made into a 2006 Australian film starring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, and Geoffrey Rush; Davies himself co-wrote its screenplay. His script for Lion was an adaptation of Saroo Brierley’s 2013 memoir, A Long Way Home. He also wrote the screenplay for a movie version of Paulette Jiles’ Kirkus-starred 2016 Western novel, News of the World; that film, directed by United 93’s Paul Greengrass, is set for release in December and stars Tom Hanks.
The Australian author’s other novels include 2002’s Isabelle the Navigator and 2014’s God of Speed, about billionaire Howard Hughes. He’s also written several books of poetry, including 2004’s Totem, which won multiple poetry prizes in his native country.
McCann won the 2009 National Book Award for Fiction for his novel Let the Great World Spin and co-wrote the script for the 2004 short film Everything in This Country Must, which was nominated for an Academy Award; it was based on his 2000 short story of the same name.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
