'Hunger Games' 2.0? Lionsgate nabs 'Chaos Walking'
EW has confirmed that Lionsgate has obtained worldwide rights to develop, produce and distribute films based on Patrick Ness’s hit Young Adult trilogy “Chaos Walking.” Like Lionsgate’s other hot property, The Hunger Games, the “Chaos Walking” books (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men) are set in a dystopian future, feature a young savior, and are marked by dark tone and thrilling action. Taking place in a settlement called Prentisstown on a planet like Earth, an infection known as the Noise renders all thoughts audible and destroys all privacy. War wages between a corrupt government and the planet’s native population, and tween Todd Hewitt discovers he holds the key to his planet’s existence.
Alli Shearmur, Lionsgate’s president of production and development who will be overseeing the books’ transition to film, said, “Although these stories are set in a critical time in the future, they speak volumes about what is happening all over the world today, and about the power of young people to challenge the status quo and change the course of our future.” Added Lionsgate’s co-COO and president Joe Drake, “These are books, much like The Hunger Games, that we feel truly beg to be brought to life on film. ” The Departed producer Doug Davison will take on the project through his company Quadrant Pictures.
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