Don DeLillo’s books, like those of his US literary peer Philip Roth, have largely defied filmmakers' attempts to shoehorn them into successful movies. But his 1985 breakthrough novel White Noise will soon be added to a short list of dense, ambitious DeLillo tomes adapted for the big screen that so-far includes David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis and, well, not much else.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, White Noise has been picked up by BB Film Productions. Michael Almereyda, writer of the 2000 Ethan Hawke-starring Hamlet, is working on the screenplay.
It’ll be an interesting challenge. The book, like much of DeLillo’s work, is hardly plot-driven. In fact, it’s more of a philosophical musing on big themes like family life, mortality and modern life. Despite being written in the mid-'80s, its postmodern riffs on media, especially, should still feel very current.
The story follows Jack Gibney, a professor of Hitler studies at an American liberal arts college. Along with his family, he’s forced to deal with the literal and metaphoric fallout from an Airborne Toxic Event, a noxious chemical cloud unleashed by an industrial accident.
Says BB Film’s Uri Singer: “[White Noise] radiates an appreciation of American life but also elements of satire.” Expect news of a director in the not-too-distant future.