“The Maze Runner” director Wes Ball is set to direct a feature adaptation of the sci-fi novel “The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August,” which Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners has acquired.
Ball will direct the adaptation based on Claire North’s 2014 book, which won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science-Fiction Novel and the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science-Fiction Novel.
“The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August” is the story of a man who is repeatedly born into the same life and who remembers all his past experiences while seeking to save the world by outmaneuvering a similarly gifted rival who’s willing to make any sacrifice to attain godlike knowledge.
Melissa Iqbal (“Humans,” “The Nevers”) adapted the novel for the big screen.
Pete Czernin and Graham Broadbent of Blueprint Pictures, which originally optioned and developed the project, are producing along with Joe Hartwick Jr. of Oddball Entertainment.
Jeb Brody, Amblin Partners’ president of production, and Andrew Calof, VP of creative affairs, will oversee for the studio.
Ball is also attached to develop a new “Planet of the Apes” film at 20th Century Studios. His “Maze Runner” trilogy of young adult adventure stories have grossed over $950 million worldwide at the box office.
Melissa Iqbal is represented by Casarotto Ramsay and Associates Ltd.
The Observer first reported the news of the project.