Tilda Swinton to Star in David Lowery's Adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh Novel ‘Death in Her Hands'
The book's official synopsis reads, 'As her inner world begins to eclipse reality, the mystery of Magda threatens Vesta's grip on her own life — until, in a spellbinding operatic climax, we realize that Magda's death may finally allow Vesta to live.' The novel was published in 2000.
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Lowery will adapt the novel for the screen, with See-Saw Films producing. Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, and Jeanie Igoe are producing, with the executive producers including Simon Gillis and Ann Phillips. See-Saw's sales division Cross City Films and WME Independent are set to secure financing for the feature at Cannes.
'I am a devoted fan of Ottessa Moshfegh, and the opportunity to translate 'Death in Her Hands' to the big screen has been, in some ways, a subterfuge for getting to spend a great deal of time obsessing over her prose. But now the ruse is up!,' Lowery said in a press statement. 'The script begot by the novel will soon become a film, and I am suddenly aware more than ever that adapting this particular work represents a devious challenge (anyone who's read the novel will understand why)! But I'm ready for it, and am emboldened to have such wonderful collaborators at my side: the whole team at See-Saw, Jeanie, and of course, the incredible Tilda Swinton, who I know will illuminate Ottessa's story in ways I could only dream of.'
Producers Canning and Sherman added, 'David Lowery is a master of crafting striking, atmospheric stories, and there's no one better to bring Ottessa Moshfegh's haunting and brilliant novel to the screen. We can't wait for audiences to step into the world he creates and be swept away by Vesta's story, played by the incomparable, magnetic, and endlessly compelling Tilda Swinton.'
Lowery next has 'Mother Mary' in the works starring Anne Hathaway, which is currently in post-production. 'Death in Her Hands' isn't the only Moshfegh adaptation in the works: Author Moshfegh, who also collaborated with Hathaway for her adaptation of 'Eileen,' told IndieWire that she hand-selects who will adapt her work for the screen.
'I wouldn't just sign the rights over to a novel to anyone,' she said. 'There are people who have some doings around other IPs. I trust them, but that isn't to say I'm not good at detachment. I don't actually want to control other people's work. An adaptation is just an adaptation. It's not supposed to be a carbon copy. That's impossible. It's a reinterpretation, it's a translation, and it's a really creative process.'
Moshfegh added at the time that the adaptation of 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation,' to which LuckyChap optioned the rights to in 2018 and Yorgos Lanthimos was rumored to be attached to direct, is still 'underway.' No director has been announced yet. 'I have no idea about the timeline on that, but hopefully sometime,' 'Causeway' screenwriter Moshfegh said in 2023.Best of IndieWire
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USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Ichiro Suzuki becomes comedian during Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech
COOPERSTOWN, NY. — The day was filled with passionate speeches, inspirational messages, and ended Sunday with a comedy show by the least suspecting Hall of Famer, with most of the audience unaware he even spoke English. Ichiro Suzuki, the first Japanese Hall of Famer in baseball history, brought down the house with one of the most humorous speeches since the late Bob Uecker. Suzuki, who has had a full-time interpreter since he arrived in the United States in 2001, delivered his entire speech in English, cracking jokes with a perfect delivery, entertaining the crowd of 30,000 at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He was one of five players inducted in the 76th induction ceremony, joined by CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner and the late Dick Allen and Dave Parker. 'People often measure me by my records,'' Suzuki said. '3,000 hits, 10 Gold Gloves, 10 seasons of 200 hits. Not bad, huh? But the truth is that without baseball, you would say, 'This guy is such a dumbass.'" Suzuki's comedy act was just beginning, reciting baseball stats, his 3,089 hits, his record 262-hit season, and saying how his career was recognized by the Baseball Writers Association of America, but it still wasn't good enough for the one anonymous writer who didn't vote for him, preventing him from joining Mariano Rivera as the only unanimous Hall of Famers in history. He paused, listened to the laughter from the crowd, and then with a perfect delivery said, 'Oh, by the way, and that offer for that writer to have dinner at my house has now ... expired.'' He thanked the Seattle Mariners and Hall of Fame GM Pat Gillick for believing in him and signing him in 2001, thanked the New York Yankees for his 2 ½ years with them, and Hall of Famer Derek Jeter for his valuable leadership. 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The only time Suzuki spoke Japanese during his entire speech was thanking Hideo Nomo for giving him the courage to play Major League Baseball. 'Because of Hideo's courage,'' Suzuki said, my eyes opened to the idea of challenging myself by going somewhere I never imagined.' Nomo was the first Japanese player in 30 years to play in MLB in 1995, pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and was an inspiration to Suzuki, who wrote an essay when he was in the sixth grade that he wanted to be a professional baseball player. 'I think you can imagine, there was much doubt when I tried to become the first position player from Japan in MLB,' he said. 'But it was more than just that. There was criticism and negativity. Someone even said to me, 'Don't embarrass the nation.' 'I encourage young players to dream, and dream big, but to also understand the difference between your dream and the goal. 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'I'm sitting here and thinking about it now, 'Who's next? Who's the next Black starting pitcher to win 20 games? Will there be another? I don't want to be the final Black pitcher standing here giving a Hall of Fame speech. I think it's on me and the next generation to find that next kid.'' Sabathia's speech also was effusive in praise for the women in his life, from his mother, Margie, to his aunts and grandmother, Ethel Rufus, raising him in Vallejo, California. He wouldn't be on stage this day, he said, if not for the love and support of his wife, Amber. His mother used to put on catcher's equipment to help him work on his pitching mechanics, and even talking about pitch selection in the garage. And he spent plenty of nights at his grandmother's house where he would pick grapefruits from her tree and throw them at a folding chair used as a strikezone in the back yard. When he wanted to work at Marine World as a teenager, his grandmother wouldn't let him, telling him he needed to focus on baseball. 'You'd be lucky to have even one of those women in your life,'' Sabathia said, 'and I had them all. A village of women who raised me, guided me, made me laugh, fed me, protected me, and a few times, literally save me, starting with my mom.'' Billy Wagner's wait finally ends Wagner, who had to wait until the 10th and final year of eligibility to enter the Hall of Fame while Suzuki and Sabathia made it on the first ballot, thanked dozens of teammates from Jeff Bagwell to Russ Springer to his pitching coaches to bullpen catchers to managers to writers. Wagner, 5-foot-10, is the second pitcher to be inducted under six feet tall. 'I wasn't the biggest, I wasn't left-handed [until twice breaking his right arm], I wasn't supposed to be here,' Wagner said. 'Perseverance isn't just a trait. It's a path to greatness. 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Boston Globe
5 hours ago
- Boston Globe
In Brockton, the '11th island' celebrates Cape Verde's 50th year of independence
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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘It' is Back and Derry-er Than Ever: HBO Series Is the Latest in Stephen King Cinematic Universe
The only other author, besides Stephen King, who can lay claim to having more of their work mined for television and film has got to be God. Show of hands of people who saw 'The Life of Chuck' earlier this year and had the 'Oh, right, that was based on a Stephen King story, of course' moment when the credits rolled. King is extremely prolific, and his myriad of tales tap into something specific about the human psyche — and most especially the innocence of childhood. Think of some of the most enduring King adaptations. 'The Shining.' 'Carrie.' 'Stand By Me.' The perspective of youth, in all its awkwardness, terror, and joy, is a persistent throughline. 'It' is the best example of this aspect of his work. The mammoth 1,000+ page 1986 novel has been memorably translated to film twice — once as the two-part Tim Curry 1990 miniseries and again as the Bill Skarsgård two-part film series (2017 and 2019). Generations of children of felt chills at the sight of rain jackets and red balloons because of these films and their source material. More from IndieWire Jay Leno Says Late Night Hosts 'Alienate' Viewers: 'I Don't Think Anybody Wants to Hear a Lecture' George Lucas Makes His First Ever Comic-Con Appearance So to make a full-fledged prequel television series out of the book makes sense. A (second) teaser for 'It: Welcome to Derry' was released July 27, which you can watch below. Warning: it may spoil whatever love you have for 'The Music Man.' What's most interesting about this trailer comes about 57 seconds in, when a bus is shown for 'Shawshank State Prison,' which is of course the setting of the King novella 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and its subsequent acclaimed film adaptation 'The Shawshank Redemption,' long listed as the No. 1 film ever by IMDb users. This puts the series not only in the same universe as the most recent 'It' films, but potentially in the same world as many other King works. The connections between King's own works have been discussed for decades — at least since the 2001 book 'The Stephen King Universe' was published. Pennywise — the titular 'It' clown — and the town of Derry are mentioned in a variety of King stories and screen translations, including 'Castle Rock,' 'The Dark Tower,' Insomnia,' 'Maximum Overdrive,' and 'Gray Matter.' Carrie White — you know, 'Carrie' — is mentioned directly in the 'It' novel. I mean, even the Overlook Hotel from 'The Shining' is mentioned in his book 'Misery.' Then King wrote his own sequel to that, 'Doctor Sleep,' which also became a movie. Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe made it on to our screens, these subtle connections between Maine's favorite author's impressive catalogue was already on full display. So, right out of the gate, to include this nod and place 'Welcome to Derry' right smack nab in the Stephen King pantheon is indeed a 'welcome' move. At Comic-Con on July 27, fans were also treated to a 10-minute preview of the new show (which has not been made available online as of this writing). According to Entertainment Weekly, the scenes — set in 1962 — follow a boy who sneaks into a movie theater, is caught, and then escapes… only to hitch a ride with a mild-mannered family that turns out to be the shape-shifting 'It.' This intro echos that of its source material, which also opens on a young boy's gruesome death at the hands of Pennywise. The eight-episode 'It: Welcome to Derry' premieres on HBO and HBO Max this October. Watch the first teaser trailer, released in May, below. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
