Doug Liman to helm “Chaos Walking” YA novel adaptation

PanARMENIAN.Net - “The Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman is in negotiations to direct Lionsgate’s adaptation of “Chaos Walking”, Variety reports.

Based on the popular YA novel, the studio has been trying to get the film off the ground for sometime with Robert Zemeckis initially attached to helm from a script by Charlie Kaufman.

If a deal closes, Liman would first shoot the Amazon actioner “The Wall” with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and then segue into “Chaos Walking” in early 2017.

Jamie Linden penned the most recent script with Allison Shearmur and Doug Davison producing.

“Chaos Walking: The Knife of Never Letting Go,” published in 2008 as the first book in a trilogy, is set in a dystopian world where all living creatures can hear each other’s thoughts.

The book is centered on the only boy in a town of men, who makes a startling discovery that forces him to flee with only his dog in hand. With the townspeople in pursuit, the duo stumbles upon a strange and silent girl. They set off on a white-knuckle journey in which the boy must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

All three “Chaos Walking” titles have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, with the final “Monsters of Men” winning in 2011.

In addition to “The Wall,” Liman is also attached to helm “Gambit,” starring Channing Tatum, for Fox and has Tom Cruise’s crime thriller “Mena” bowing in January.

Shearmur is currently working on “Rogue One.”