Lawrence Kasdan has had a rocky track record in terms of directorial work. (Though the guy’s made classics like The Big Chill, his last film was the almost universally panned Dreamcatcher.) Meanwhile, author Harlan Coben has never seen one of his novels adapted in the Hollywood system, though Warner Bros. and Ben Affleck will remake Tell No One, the French-language film based on his novel of the same name. So it is strange news indeed that these men should find themselves working together.
Regardless, Deadline is reporting that Kasdan and Coben are now in cahoots to bring an adaptation to the latter’s latest work, still unpublished, to the big screen. The novel, entitled Stay Close, follows the changing fortunes of a photojournalist, a homicide detective, and a suburban mom after a crime from the past rises to the surface, altering their lives. Sex, violence, and all manner of thrilling fare are sure to follow. The book has yet to be published, though Coben and Kasdan are apparently hoping to have a script done by the time it hits the shelves.
This isn’t the only book that Coben has had optioned, but seemingly all others have broken down somewhere along the way; Kasdan, however, seems fairly intent on the chances of this thing. “I think it’s the most adaptable of his books, with a tight plot and strong characters. We’ll have the script ready by March, and at that point we’ll see who salutes,” he said, regarding the future of the project. “When you boil Harlan’s fiction to its core, it’s intensity, momentum and tension and this will be a medium budget sexy and violent film.” Knowing that it’s medium budget is just the icing on the cake.
Are any Coben fans excited about the prospect of this book coming to the screen, and do you think that Kasdan can come back from Dreamcatcher?