Ever since FIGHT CLUB became a cult classic film, the novels of Chuck Palahniuk have been in various states of development. The novels Invisible Monsters and Rant have been the ones most often named as being in development or optioned by studios, but only Clark Gregg's CHOKE has made it to the silver screen since the 1999 release of the David Fincher film. Now, Palahniuk's novel LULLABY will be made into a film and the author himself is involved.
Palahniuk revealed last week that independent filmmakers Andy Mingo and Josh Leake will produce the adaptation of LULLABY with aims to film entirely in the Pacific Northwest. The Wrap has now revealed that Palahniuk has co-written the screenplay with Mingo.
Assigned to write a series of feature articles investigating SIDS, troubled newspaper reporter Carl Streator begins to notice a pattern among the cases he encounters: each child was read the same poem prior to his or her death. His research and a tip from a necrophilic paramedic lead him to Helen Hoover Boyle, a real estate agent who sells "distressed" (demonized) homes, assured of their instant turnover. Boyle and Streator have both lost children to "crib death," and she confirms Streator's suspicions: the poem is an ancient lullaby or "culling song" that is lethal if spoken–or even thought–in a victim's direction. The misanthropic Streator, now armed with a deadly and uncontrollably catchy tune, goes on a minor killing spree until he recognizes his crimes and the song's devastating potential. Lullaby then turns into something of a road trip narrative, with Streator, Boyle, her empty-headed Wiccan secretary Mona, and Mona's vigilante boyfriend Oyster setting out across the U.S. to track down and destroy all copies of the poem.
While Leake and Mingo are not exactly Hollywood A-listers, the adaptation of a Palahniuk novel will certainly intrigue distributors. Clark Gregg sold CHOKE at film festivals before the movie got any distribution so having Chuck Palahniuk's name plastered all over this production should give it a needed boost.
It is sometimes hard for Palahniuk's transgressive style and content to click with major studios but I hope LULLABY gets the chance some of the author's other novels haven't received. Stay tuned for more details as filming is set to get underway this year.
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