Focus Features has optioned John Langan’s The Fisherman
The book is a masterclass of gothic fiction
There’s a pattern when it comes to book adaptations in Hollywood: a book is in the pipeline where it attracts the attention of various producers, who, along with the publicity push ahead of its release, announce just before or alongside its release date. There’s a writer attached to it, a production house, maybe a director, and then it’s either fast-tracked into production or lingers in production hell until it switches hands, is eventually killed when it runs out of momentum, or sometimes gets made.
It’s a little more rare to see a book land an adaptation deal come long after a book is published, and that seems to be the case with John Langan’s fantastic novel The Fisherman, which The Hollywood Reporter revealed has been picked up by Focus Features for a film adaptation. (h/t to Max Covill of It’s The Pictures in the Transfer Orbit Slack!)
I’m really happy to see this piece of news: when I read it a couple of years ago, I was blown away by its slow burn story and the way that Langan fantastically brought out a creepy, unsettling feeling to the steep river valleys of New York‘s Catskills.
The novel follows a grieving widower named Abe, who’s reeling from the death of his wife, Marie and turns to fishing as a distraction. When a former coworker, Dan, loses his entire family in a car accident, Abe invites him along and the pair find some measure of peace, if not an unconventional friendship.
The pair come across a remote fishing spot called Dutchman’s Creek: Dan is evasive about how he learned about it, and when they stop at a local diner, they hear from the locals about the place’s history and why people are so uneasy about the place. When they arrive, they find more than just fish there. It’s a tremendous, gripping read.
Here's my review:
Andrew Liptak
Focus tapped director David Lowery (The Green Knight, Mother Mary) to helm the film, which will be written by Alex Ross Perry. Platinum Dunes’ Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Alex Ginno (who worked on A Quiet Place and Purge franchises) are producing, along with Coin Operated’s Gary Dauberman and Mia Maniscalco (who worked on It and Annabelle).
As with any adaptation, there’s still along way to go before this becomes a film — this is just a step in a long and challenging process. But it’s a cool thing to see, especially for a book that’s long been out on shelves. The book has a lot of potential as the basis for a film: there are a lot of great visuals and a great pacing here that would be amazing to see on the big screen. Hopefully, it’ll make it through the gauntlet.