EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal has acquired rights to develop Peter Cameron’s well-received 2020 novel What Happens At Night into a feature film, with Martin Scorsese aboard to produce and Oscar nominee Patrick Marber (Notes On A Scandal) adapting the screenplay.
What Happens At Night, a finalist for the LA Times‘ Book Prize for Fiction, is a dream-like story of a married American couple who travel to a small, snowy European town to adopt a baby.
The couple check into a cavernous, largely deserted hotel where they encounter an enigmatic cast of characters including a flamboyant chanteuse, a depraved businessman and a charismatic faith healer. Nothing is quite as it seems in this strange, frozen world. As the couple struggle to claim their baby, the less they seem to know about themselves and the life they’ve built together.
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The Times Of London called the novel “a mystery story, even a bit of a thriller, with some piggybacking on the ready-made sinister atmosphere of The Shining.” The Gothic plot gives off David Lynch and Patricia Highsmith vibes, and in Scorsese’s own oeuvre has a pinch of Shutter Island about it.
The novel was identified and brought into Studiocanal by LA-based production executive Aaron Ensweiler. Ensweiler and Chief Creative Officer of U.S. Operations, Shana Eddy, will oversee for Studiocanal, which is in early development and will fully finance. No word yet on a director.
Oscar winner Scorsese is soon to debut his latest epic Killers Of The Flower Moon at the Cannes Film Festival. The legendary filmmaker is a prolific executive-producer but producer credits on movies he doesn’t direct are more rare: What Happens At Night would be among only a handful in the last 20 years alongside upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, starring Bradley Cooper.
Playwright, comedian, author and screenwriter Marber was Oscar nominated for his screenplay of Notes On A Scandal and also wrote the Mike Nichols film, Closer. In post-production he has movie The Critic, starring Gemma Arterton, Ian McKellen, Mark Strong and Lesley Manville.
Peter Cameron commented: “I could not be more honoured or delighted to have my novel optioned by Aaron Ensweiler and Shana Eddy at Studiocanal. And to have Martin Scorsese and Patrick Marber, two artists whose talents amaze me, re-imagining and recreating What Happens at Night is simply as good as it gets.”
Patrick Marber added: “I’m so thrilled and so excited to be working with the legendary Martin Scorsese to bring Peter Cameron’s astonishing and beautiful story to the screen.“
Aaron Ensweiler and Shana Eddy concluded: “Every now and then a project comes along that reminds you why you fell in love with cinema. This is one of those projects. Peter Cameron’s hauntingly beautiful novel captured our imaginations from the first page. The opportunity to shepherd its adaptation is an honour, and the chance to do so with Martin and Patrick is a privilege of the highest order.”
Peter Cameron is represented by CAA. Patrick Marber is represented by LBI Entertainment, Judy Daish Associates, David Matlof and CAA, and Martin Scorsese is represented by LBI Entertainment and WME.
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