The film adaptation of Daniel Clowes‘ graphic novel Patience has found a director. Deadline reports that Charlie McDowell has signed on to the upcoming Focus Features film. McDowell will a direct while his The One I Love and The Discovery collaborator Justin Lader writes the script. The film will be produced by Innisfree Pictures’ Jim Burke and Steven Snyder. No additional details about the film – including an anticipated release date – have been released.
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An adaptation of Patience has been in the works for some time. Focus Features first acquired the film rights to the graphic novel back in 2016, the same year the book was first published. At the time, Clowes was set to write the screenplay for the film and per Deadline, has written a first draft of the screenplay. Clowes was nominated for an Academy Award for adapting his comic Ghost World into a feature film in 2001. That film was directed by Terry Zwigoff and starred Scarlett Johansson, Thora Birch, and Steve Buscemi and has gone on to be a cult classic.
Patience follows the story of a man, Jack, whose life falls apart due to anger, grief, and guilt after discovering his wife, Patience, murdered in their apartment. Years later, Jack discovers a time machine that would allow him to go back to save Patience and ultimate ends up on a journey through Patience’s past and the events that shaped her into the woman he knew and loved.
“Daniel’s story is beautifully imagined,” former Focus Features president of production Jim Burke said in 2016. “As with all of his works, it is vivid and affecting. Patience will be a thrilling, funny, and moving exploration of emotions we’ve all experienced.”
In addition to Ghost World, Clowes is known for his comic series Eightball, the graphic novel Wilson — which was adapted into a 2017 starring Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern with Clowes writing the screenplay — the graphic novel David Boring and the short story collection Caricature.
What do you think about this latest news regarding the adaptation of Clowes’ Patience? Are you a fan of Ghost World? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
