Doug Liman, who previously helmed Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the Tom Cruise vehicle Edge of Tomorrow, is in talks to direct Lionsgate/Summit’s post-apocalyptic young adult thriller Chaos Walking. Robert Zemeckis had previously been attached to the film, which is based on the first book in Patrick Ness’ bestselling young-adult trilogy.

The story takes place in a world where there are no women and all living creatures can hear one another’s thoughts in a stream of images, words and sounds called Noise.

Lionsgate picked up the property in 2011 as a way of extending its dominance in the YA film space thanks to its Hunger Games and Twilight franchises. But the studio has stumbled with some of its subsequent efforts including the Divergent franchise as well as Ender’s Game, which never even spawned a sequel.

But Chaos Walking has more pedigree than Divergent or Ender’s Game given that Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind) adapted the book.

Doug Davison, who produced the Liman-directed Tom Cruise starrer Mena, is producing alongside Allison Shearmur (Rogue One, Cinderella). Zemeckis and his ImageMovers’ partner Jack Rapke also are onboard as producers. The hope is to be in production in the fall.

Source: Hollywood Reporter