56 Days: James Wan producing psychological thriller with Amazon Studios

Atomic Monster, the production company headed up by genre regular James Wan, is teaming with Amazon Studios to produce a psychological thriller based on the best-selling novel 56 Days, by Catherine Ryan Howard (pick up a copy HERE). The Hollywood Reporter shares the news that Lisa Zwerling and Karyn Usher, who were behind the Starz drama The Rook, are writing the adaptation.

Written by Howard during the pandemic lockdown in Dublin back in 2020, 56 Days is set during that very same lockdown. It tells the story of an intense, erotic romance that turns deadly. It follows two young professionals, striking out on their own in a new city, who are entangled quickly in a charged relationship that leads to a powerful intimacy that is soon cracked open by their secrets … and to murder.

Here’s the book description: No one even knew they were together. Now one of them is dead. 56 DAYS AGO: Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores. 35 DAYS AGO: When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who — and what — he really is. TODAY: Detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside. Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?

Zwerling and Usher are executive producing 56 Days with Wan and his Atomic Monster cohorts Michael Clear and Rob Hackett. Howard serves as co-executive producer, and Atomic Monster’s Danielle Bozzone is overseeing the development of the project.

We recently heard that Wan and Atomic Monster are also developing an adaptation of the 1988 bestseller Stinger, written by Robert R. McCammon, for the Peacock streaming service. Yesterday, it was announced that a TV series set in the world of Wan’s Conjuring Universe is also in the works at Max (formerly known as HBO Max). Wan’s deal to executive produce that series wasn’t closed yet at the time the announcement was made, but it’s difficult to imagine that he wouldn’t end up being involved.

Have you read 56 Days? If so, what do you think of it getting the adaptation treatment from James Wan and Amazon Studios? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

I haven’t read 56 Days yet myself, but I look forward to following the progress of this adaptation.