Per Deadline, Pig director Michael Sarnoski has signed on to write and direct an adaptation of Nick Drnaso‘s graphic novel Sabrina for New Regency.
The graphic novel follows a grieving man whose girlfriend goes missing. To cope, he goes to live with his old friend – an Air Force surveillance expert agent dealing with a failed marriage. When a grisly videotape is sent anonymously to news outlets, Sabrina’s disappearance goes viral.
As the 24-hour news cycle and social media take hold of the story, the two men are targeted by vitriolic conspiracy theorists that threaten their sense of the truth and their faith in each other.
Sabrina was published in May 2018 and two months later became the first graphic novel to be long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. New Regency will finance the project and produce alongside RT Features’ Rodrigo Teixeira.
Sarnoski broke onto the scene last year with his critically acclaimed Pig, which earned star Nicolas Cage some of the best reviews of his career. Sarnoski’s work was so well received that Sabrina won’t even be his follow-up film, as John Krasinski already tapped him months ago to direct the first spinoff to his A Quiet Place franchise.
So it won’t be his next film, but Sabrina has a terrific premise worth waiting for. There should be plenty of contemporary issues for Sarnoski to explore, such as the way the internet has rewired our brains, how true crime has become entertainment, the media’s infatuation with missing white girls, and a lot more.
New Regency and RT Features previously collaborated on James Gray‘s Ad Astra and Robert Eggers‘ The Lighthouse, so they have a good track record. New Regency are releasing Eggers’ The Northman right now as a co-production with Universal, and will also release David O. Russell‘s star-studded period drama Canterbury Glass in November.
#Peace.Love.Sabrina
