While adaptations of Nick Hornby's books haven't always been guaranteed hits at the box office, his work has generated enough success that filmmakers keep coming back to them. The latest headed to screens is Juliet, Naked, and it has Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Chris O'Dowd in talks to star.
Jesse Peretz is on board to direct, and the script comes from The Savages' Tamara Jenkins and Sideways co-writer Jim Taylor. Juliet, Naked hits some familiar Hornby rom-com themes, following Annie (Byrne) who is getting tired of her boyfriend Duncan's (O'Dowd) obsession with a music star called Tucker Crowe (Hawke). The story has been compared to High Fidelity and the producers – which include Judd Apatow and Barry Mendel – are no doubt hoping this is as popular as that adaptation. The financing for this one comes from the Los Angeles Media Fund and rights for the movie will be up for grabs at the American Film Market.
Byrne was last seen in X-Men: Apocalypse and recently signed on to play a character called Bea in the new live-action/CG blend Peter Rabbit. Hawke has Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets due out on 21 July next year, while O'Dowd has also been dabbling in sci-fi again with the JJ Abrams-produced God Particle, headed our way on 24 February.