Black Hole, the renowned Charles Burns graphic novel-turned-abandoned-film-adaptation, has reportedly received a second wind, with David Fincher and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment renewing efforts to bring it to the big screen.
After its initial publishing period from 1995 to 2005, the wildly popular book was quickly snatched up by Paramount, who signed on writers Neil Gaiman (Beowulf, MirrorMask) and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs), as well as director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, High Tension). But when David Fincher supplanted Aja, creative differences led to Gaiman and Avary leaving the project, which caused its subsequent derailing in 2008. Until recently, the adaptation’s undeniable potential and widely anticipated development had yet to be capitalized on.
Then came Brad Pitt and his increasingly relevant production company, Plan B Entertainment. With the label’s highly acclaimed 12 Years a Slave, as well as a number of additional high profile upcoming projects (Blonde, The Operators, The Last Family in England), Black Hole seems to be a good fit for the company and its immediate ambitions to earn a reputation as a serious contender within the industry.
Though is it uncertain who will create the screenplay, Fincher’s renewed dedication to the project, which contains the kind of esoteric edginess that seemingly has the potential to align well with the auteur director’s creative sensibilities, is auspicious at the very least.
The following text is the novel’s official description (supplied by Movieweb):
“The setting is Seattle during the ’70’s. A sexual disease, the ‘bug,’ is spreading among teenagers. Those who get it develop bizarre mutations – sometimes subtle. Story follows two teens, Keith & Chris as they get the bug. Their dreams and hallucinations – made of deeply disturbing symbolism merging sexuality and sickness – are a key part of the tale!”
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