Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me And Earl And The Dying Girl) has been tapped by Amazon to helm an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem‘s novel The Fortress Of Solitude. Acclaimed playwright Dave Harris is writing the script.
The novel tells the story of two friends, Dylan and Mingus, who come of age in 1970s Brooklyn. After receiving a magic ring with the directive to fight evil, the friends forge an indelible bond. But their experiences and opportunities grow increasingly disparate since there are things even a magic ring can’t solve: Dylan is white, and Mingus is Black, and in America, that makes a world of difference.
Lethem will also executive produce the show. He’s written many novels, including Motherless Brooklyn, which was finally adapted into a film a few years ago by Edward Norton after being a passion project for the actor for a long time.
Gomez-Rejon has worked with Amazon before, as he directed the pilot episode of Jordan Peele‘s Hunters and also serves as an executive producer on the series.
He’s also developing Giant, a series adaptation of Edna Ferber‘s novel which was previously made into the iconic 1956 film starring James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson.
As you can probably tell by the brief synopsis, Lethem’s novels are often strange mixes of genres while never straying too far from their literary origins, so it makes his work somewhat difficult to adapt.
Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn didn’t exactly wow critics and audiences, but we’ll see what Gomez-Rejon can do with The Fortress Of Solitude, which potentially has the perfect mix of superhero lore and racial commentary to work on audiences at this time.
#Peace.Love.TheFortressOfSolitude
