Rupert Wyatt, who helmed the better-then-expected RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, has been tapped to direct an adaptation of Marisha Pessl’s upcoming dark thriller NIGHT FILM, which follows the story of a journalist named Scott McGrath who uncovers some unexpected details when investigating the alleged suicide of a beautiful young woman. Wyatt is reteaming with Chernin Entertainment, who produced RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES as well as the Tom Cruise-starring OBLIVION, for the picture.
Pessl’s novel NIGHT FILM is set to be released in August through Random House and is about…
On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive, cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova—a man who hasn’t been seen in public for more than thirty years.
For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence. Though much has been written about Cordova’s dark and unsettling films, very little is known about the man himself.
Driven by revenge, curiosity, and a need for the truth, McGrath, with the aid of two strangers, is drawn deeper and deeper into Cordova’s eerie, hypnotic world. The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time he might lose even more.
No writer has been attached to the project as of yet. And while Chernin has a first-look deal at Fox, the project is not set up there or any other studio at this stage.