Warner Bros. is partnering with Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment to bring YA sci-fi novel Illuminae to the big screen.
That’s according to The Hollywood Reporter, revealing that the book – penned by award-winning scribes Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – has been picked up for adaptation, with the search now underway to cast writers to craft a screenplay from the core story. Praised for its unique storytelling, Illuminae rolls out its narrative via a dossier of found documents, texts, instant messages, ship schematics, casualty lists and classified files, though at its core is a love story between Kady and Ezra.
Pitched as the first entry in a potential trilogy of novels, both Warner Bros. and Plan B clearly see a lot of mileage in Illuminae. Taking place in the year 2575, its scope rivals some of the more ambitious sci-fi tales in the genre, incorporating intergalactic wars, deadly viruses and artificial intelligence, with reviewers praising the intricacy and stylish nature of Kaufman and Kristoff’s source material. But can it hold up in a feature-length film? Time will tell. For now, here’s the official synopsis of the book.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit. But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
Despite Warner Bros. and Plan B Entertainment acquiring the project, it’s very much early days on Illuminae, but both parties will no doubt be keen to nurture the project into a bona fide franchise.
