Edgar Wright Signs On to Helm The Chain Adaptation

While audiences still anxiously wait for his upcoming psychological horror film, Edgar Wright (Last Night in Soho) has already lined up another new project with an adaptation of Adrian McKinty’s bestselling 2019 novel The Chain, according to Deadline.

The film, which is being penned by Jane Goldman (X-Men: First Class), tells the story of Rachel, who learns that her 11-year-old daughter has been kidnapped and is forced to kidnap another child to rescue her, with those parents having to kidnap another child for Rachel’s daughter to be released. If neither Rachel nor the parents of the child she kidnaps go through with it, Rachel’s daughter will be murdered, making her part of The Chain, a terrifying and malicious chain letter kidnapping scheme turning parents from victims to criminals.

Purchase the original novel here!

The project was originally set up at Paramount Pictures prior to the novel’s publishing last July, but the deal between the studio and publishing house LittleBrown/Mulholland never went through, leaving the rights open for Universal to swoop in with a reported seven-figure deal.

The film is being produced by Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan alongside Wright and producing partner Nira Park through their recently formed banner Complete Fiction and The Story Factory’s Shane Salerno. The novel has been published in 41 countries and became a bestseller in 20 of them and made 25 best of the year lists, with the publishing house still holding off on releasing a paperback edition as it continues to be a strong seller.

Wright most recently stepped behind the camera for the psychological thriller Last Night in Soho, which he co-scripted with 1917‘s Krysty Wilson-Cairnes, which was originally set to hit theaters on September 25 from Universal Pictures and Focus Features, but due to the global pandemic, it has been pushed back to an April 23, 2021 release.

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