Luca Guadagnino In Talks To Direct Warner Bros. ‘Lord Of The Flies’ Adaptation

After being benched for so long, Warner Bros.’ The Lord of the Flies adaptation might finally take off with Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino at the helm. According to Variety, Guadagnino and Marco Morabito are also in talks to produce. Meanwhile, Known Universe is in negotiations to executive produce.

William Golding’s classic The Lord of the Flies followed a group of British boys stranded on a deserted island via a plain crash. They divide themselves into two groups and soon, the sought after peace and organization crumble to savagery. Warner Bros. acquired the rights for it back in 2017. And ever since then, the studio has tried to get it up in production. One idea was to present a gender-swapped adaptation where a group of girls would instead be ruling the island. However, the idea never came to fruition.

If the deal pushes through, Guadagnino and Known Universe are planning to stay true to the novel with a contemporary touch. However, no writers are on board the project yet. It is also unclear where the project will fit into Guadagnino’s schedule. As of the moment, he is busy finishing his work on HBO’s miniseries We Are Who We Are. And though he isn’t expected to dive into directing any feature films after that project, the sequel to Call Me By Your Name, titled Find Me, is also on his calendar.

Last year, the Oscar-nominated director also announced his plans to direct Blood on the Tracks, a screen adaptation based on Boby Dynlan’s 1975 Breakup Album. Then, he also took his short film The Staggering Girl to the 2019 Cannes Festival. Starring in the film were Julianne Moore, Kyle MacLachlan, and Mia Goth. Most recently, his retelling of the horror Suspiria starring Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton hit the theatres receiving positive reviews.

Known Universe, on the other hand, is a new production company founded by Nicole Perlman, Lindsey Beer, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Little is known about the line-up on its slate. However, it guaranteed a wide range of products including a Hello Kitty adaptation.

The Lord of the Flies has gone through two adaptations. The first being the black and white 1963 production helmed by director Peter Brook. And the second and most recent being Harry Hook’s 1990 adaptation.