Earlier this year, it was reported that Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa, Synecdoche, New York) had signed on to adapt Iain Reid’s novel I’m Thinking Of Ending Things for Netflix, which was exciting in and of itself. It has become an even more interesting project because Brie Larson has agreed to play one of the lead roles.
The novel itself revolves around Jake, who is taking his girlfriend to meet his parents at their secluded farm. Only the girlfriend is turning over in her mind whether to end the relationship or not. But when Jake makes a surprising detour, things quickly change and palpable psychological dread engulfs the rest of the story.
The novel itself is very short and ostensibly doesn’t fit with the kind of work Kaufman is known for. But remember, he is the man who was tasked with writing an adaptation of the novel The Orchid Thief, only to succumb to writer’s block, turning his own failure to complete the cinematic adaptation into the screenplay for, you guessed it, Adaptation.
So there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing a film very different from the novel itself, which is probably a plus as the book is well written but covers very similar ground to other novels examining the same kinds of themes. Hopefully Kaufman can pluck the hints of greatness out of the text and bring them to the big screen.
Of course, we might not be able to see the film on the big screen since it is a Netflix production, though it’s possible this will be a high profile project they deem prestige enough to give a limited theatrical release to. Those kinds of discussions are way off though, as the film is still very early in pre-production.
Until then, Larson can next be seen as the titular heroine in Captain Marvel, before reprising the role in Avengers 4.
She also recently signed on to star opposite Michael B. Jordan in Just Mercy, which will re-team her with her Short Term 12 and Glass Castle director, Destin Daniel Cretton.
#Peace.Love.ImThinkingOfEndingThings
