Neil Burger To Direct Dennis Lehane Adaptation ‘Animal Rescue’
AuthorDennis Lehanemay not be a household name along the lines of John Grisham or Stephen King, but Hollywood’s found plenty to love in his novels as well. Adaptations of his books are three for thre when it comes to critical and commercial success — Clint Eastwood’sMystic River, Ben Affleck’sGone Baby Gone, and Martin Scorsese’sShutter Islandwere all based on his tales — so there’s reason to get excited when news breaks of another of Lehane’s works making it to the big screen.
The next of these could beAnimal Rescue, which has just tappedLimitlesshelmerNeil Burgerto direct. The crime drama adapts short story of Lehane’s that was published in the (Lehane-edited) anthologyBoston Noir. More details after the jump.
The studioacquired the rightstoAnimal Rescuein early 2010 and set Lehane himself to write the adaptation. Since then, a few high-profile filmmakers have come and gone.David Cronenbergwas said to be attached at one point, butdropped out late last year. The studio then reportedly looked toGeorge ClooneyandAlexander Payne, but neither of those choices panned out.
Burger may not be on the level of those other guys, but he’s a decent pick. While some unfortunate timing means thatThe Illusionistwill forever be remembered as the dueling magician movie that was’t directed by Christopher Nolan, it was a well-crafted, well-acted mystery. More relevantly, last year’sLimitlessturned its better-than-average thrills into box office gold, raking in $161 million worldwide on a $27 million budget. That success has led to Burger getting a number of other juicy offers, including one for the video game adaptationUnchartedand a Bonnie and Clyde project byUp in the Airscribe Sheldon Turner, and nowAnimal Rescue.
