Amazon MGM Studios and producer Scott Stuber have teamed up to acquire the film adaptation rights to an adult mystery thriller novel proposal by bestselling author Lauren Oliver, and Deadline reports that Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson has boarded the project with the intention of producing it alongside Stuber… and, if she likes the script, she’ll also sign on to play the title character of The Girl in the Lake.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the story has been described as being along the lines of “What Lies Beneath meets The Sixth Sense.” So it sounds like there might be something supernatural going on with the girl in the lake.
Oliver is currently writing the screenplay. Johansson and Jonathan Lia will be producing the film through Johansson’s company These Pictures, while Marc Resteghini produces through Jack Tar Pictures. In addition to Scott Stuber, another producer on the project is Nick Nesbitt. Oliver serves as an executive producer. Formerly the Head of Film at the Netflix streaming service, Stuber is now endeavoring to revive the United Artists label at Amazon MGM. Stuber and Johansson previously worked together on Marriage Story and In Good Company.
Up to this point, Oliver has been best known for writing young adult novels like Panic; the Delirium trilogy of Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem; and Before I Fall. With The Girl in the Lake, she’s shifting over to adult thriller territory. Before I Fall received a film adaptation back in 2017, and Amazon Studios made a ten episode TV series adaptation of Panic back in 2021. Resteghini oversaw that show, as he was in charge of TV development for Amazon at the time.
I haven’t read any of Oliver’s work and haven’t seen the adaptations, but the involvement of Scarlett Johansson and the “What Lies Beneath meets The Sixth Sense” description is enough to get me interested in The Girl in the Lake. I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s going to turn out.
Does The Girl in the Lake sound interesting to you? Would you like to see Scarlett Johansson in a mystery thriller that’s reminiscent of What Lies Beneath and The Sixth Sense? Let us know by leaving a comment below.