Following the busy awards season and the success of La La Land, Ryan Gosling is pursuing a very different project in his free time. Gosling is reportedly leading the effort to bring the critically-acclaimed graphic novel The Underwater Welder to the big screen. Award-winning Canadian cartoonist Jeff Lemire created the series in 2012, a man by the name of Jack Joseph, who works on an offshore oil rig and encounters supernatural happenings.

The story follows Jack, as he faces the reality of his wife’s pregnancy and his impending fatherhood, only to find himself face to face with his own father’s ghost while underwater. This leads to a series of mystical events, as well as a rush of memories.

Gosling is teaming with production/management company Anonymous Content, as well as producer Ken Kao. Anonymous Content represents Gosling, and has produced award-winning films such as The Revenant and Spotlight, as well as tv series such as The Knick and Mr Robot. Kao has produced films with Gosling starring, such as The Nice Guys, and upcoming Terrence Malick film Song to Song.

IDW Publishing is the publishing house responsible for The Underwater Welder, and have a catalog that includes Transformers, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Turtles, My Little Pony, Ghostbusters, and various Disney characters.Chris Staros, Editor-in-Chief at Top Shelf, and Ted Adams, CEO/Publisher at IDW Publishing are attached as executive producers.

Meanwhile, look for Gosling to star in upcoming Blade Runner 2049, alongside Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, and Jared Leto.  He is also signed on for Damien Chazelle’s next film First Man, a biopic about astronaut Neil Armstrong, and is also producing an untitled project focusing on 1930s director/choreographer Busby Berkeley. He is also in talks for the lead in Guillermo Del Toro’s The Haunted Mansion, a dark tale based on the Disney theme park ride.

Stay tuned for more updates on The Underwater Welder project.