Though Ant-Man can’t seem to stop itself from getting squashed, that film’s former director Edgar Wright is smoothly moving forward – and sticking around in insect territory, as it turns out. Sony Pictures has set the beloved Scott Pilgrim vs. the World helmer to direct an adaptation of the impressive and unconventional Andrew Smith Dutton YA novel Grasshopper Jungle.
Wright’s next project will be Baby Driver, described as “a collision of crime, action, music and sound,” but after filming on that movie is completed, the director will move quickly into Grasshopper Jungle, which boasts a script by Scott Rosenberg (Pain & Gain, Life on Mars). Rosenberg is also on board as a producer alongside The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Matt Tolmach and Nira Park, who is involved with all of Wright’s movies. Grasshopper Jungle has Tolmach to thank for scoring Wright – the producer friended Wright on Facebook and encouraged him to take a look at the script based on his opinion that it’d be right up the director’s alley.
When you read the below description, courtesy of Deadline, you’ll understand exactly why this had to be an Edgar Wright joint. Described as “Stand By Me meets Attack the Block,” the novel is “a coming-of-age story that focuses on an Iowa teen trying to come to grips with his own raging hormones and sexual feelings as he and his cohorts cause a deadly genetically engineered plague that unleashes an army of 6-foot-tall praying mantises. Those bugs live the life these guys wish for, acting on an insatiable appetite for fighting, food, and fornicating.”
Yup, that does sound like something only Wright would be brave enough to take on. The director specializes in making the ridiculous awesome, with Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End all under his belt, in addition to the aforementioned Scott Pilgrim. We’ll be looking forward to seeing what he does with a story as stunningly bizarre as Grasshopper Jungle.
