Alexander Payne to direct adaptation of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Saga

Alexander Payne has already helmed a pair of on-the-road movies (SIDEWAYS, NEBRASKA), and according to Thompson On Hollywood, he has signed on for another road trip flick. The site is reporting that Payne is attached to direct MY SAGA, a big screen adaptation of Karl Ove Knausgaard's 2015 two-part New York Times Magazine travel essay of the same name.

The articles (which you can check out here and here) trace "the Vikings' historic trek through the Northern U.S," and, similar to Knausgaard's autobiographical novel series My Struggle, are "brutally honest, revealing not only the author himself but the foreign landscape he is cannily observing. No one comes away unscathed, including disorganized Knausgaard (who failed to renew his driver's license and could not rent a car) and his more competent cohort, Magnum photographer Peter van Agtmael."

Bona Fide Productions' Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa are producing the film, and in a statment, Berger said "Alexander's distinctive view of America merged with Knausgaard's Norwegain sensibility seemed like a good match," while Yerxa also added that "There's comedy, cultural misunderstanding and absurdity in this piece." The project doesn't have a writer yet, however it is expected to head into production this year for a 2017 release. Who would you like to see play Knausgaard and van Agtmael?

Panye's next directorial effort DOWNSIZING, starring Matt Damon, Reese Witherspoon, Alec Baldwin and Neil Patrick Harris, has been scheduled to open on December 25, 2017.