With the film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars doing gangbusters at the box office right now, it shouldn't come to a surprise that Hollywood would be looking into making any other John Green books a movie priority. Sure enough, one of his most popular books, Looking For Alaska, is soon set to be a major motion picture, with Sarah Polley writing and possibly directing the adaptation.
Deadline reveals that Paramount Pictures is currently in talks with Polley (Away From Her, Take This Waltz, Stories We Tell) for the project. Even though the book was optioned years ago, the film adaptation of Green's debut novel has now become a first priority for the studio, with Fault reeling in over $100 million on a budget of just $12 million.
Polley earned the job after pitching a strong take on the material. The pitch only earned her the writing job at the moment, but conversations about her directing the movie are said to be happening down the line. Polley earned an Oscar nomination for her writing in Away From Her, so fans should feel assured that their book is in good hands. Although Polley has established herself as an actress as well, her work seems to be primarily behind the camera these days.
Producing the movie will be Mark Waters and Jessica Tuchinsky, through their company Watermark Pictures. Looking for Alaska is just one of Green's books in development at the moment following Fault's success, as Fox 2000 is also developing a movie of Paper Town with Fault producer Wyck Godfrey, Fault screenwriters Michael H. Weber and Scott Scott Neustadter, and also Fault star Nat Wolff attached.