Lucy Alibar (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”) will pen the screenplay for the film adaptation of Delia Owens’ bestselling novel “Where the Crawdads Sing,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter are producing for their banner Hello Sunshine. Elizabeth Gabler and Erin Siminoff will oversee for Gabler’s newly launched 3000 Pictures under the Sony label.
Witherspoon endorsed the novel, which has been on the bestseller list for 75 weeks with 4.5 million copies, on her Reese’s Book List in September 2018, which helped drive sales.
Alibar was Oscar nominated for co-writing “Beasts of the Southern Wild” with director Ben Zeitlin. She most recently adapted her original play “Christmas and Jubilee Behold the Meteor Shower” for film. The title, “Troop Zero,” stars Viola Davis, Jim Gaffigan, Allison Janney and Mckenna Grace, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
“Delia Owens has created a heroine whose strength, perseverance and courage embodies the female character driven stories we are so excited to tell. We’re thrilled to have Lucy join the team of incredible women who are bringing Kya’s story to life on screen,” Witherspoon said.
“Where the Crawdads Sing” is set in the mid-2oth century South and follows a young woman named Kya who is abandoned by her family and must raise herself alone in the marshes of her hometown. When her former boyfriend is found dead, she is thrust into the spotlight.
Alibar is represented by Gersh, Manage-ment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.
Deadline first reported the news.