Some months back we reported that Lionsgate were securing the rights to Patrick Ness’ award winning CHAOS WALKING series of books, which begins with THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO. Now Lionsgate, uber-flush from all that HUNGER GAMES wonga, have hired screenwriter extraordinaire Charlie Kaufman to write the first film in the series.

CHAOS WALKING concerns a world where humans have colonized another planet and a virus makes all thought audible, ultimately destroying privacy and wiping out all women. We follow Todd Hewitt who notices a sudden silence and must go on the run from the town leaders who send an army after him. Todd eventually gets embroiled in a planet wide civil war.

At the time it was announced, I wasn’t sure how they could ever put this on film. Kudos to Lionsgate then for hiring Kaufman who is an expert at this kind of thing having previously written BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, an unused draft of A SCANNER DARKLY and the underrated SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK.

The books have been compared in tone to THE HUNGER GAMES which is probably why Lionsgate picked them up when they did. No director is on board yet, but if Kaufman cracks it then expect a director of some calibre to get involved real fast.

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