Maggie Gyllenhaal is set to develop a film adaptation of Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Kushner’s novel, published in 2024 by Scribner, follows an American secret agent who goes by the name Sadie Smith, and who is hired to infiltrate a group of activists in a small farming cooperative. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and longlisted for the National Book Award and PEN Faulkner Award, “a deft, brainy take on the espionage novel.”
Warner Bros. is developing the adaptation with Gyllenhaal set to write, produce, and direct.
Creation Lake will be the third literary adaptation directed by Gyllenhaal. She made her directorial debut in 2021 with The Lost Daughter, based on Elena Ferrante’s 2008 novel, and starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Jessie Buckley; Gyllenhaal earned an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay for the film.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. released The Bride!, loosely inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; the movie starred Buckley, Christian Bale, and Peter Sarsgaard. The film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
