Daniel Radcliffe continues to find interesting projects in which to star following his turn as Harry Potter in the successful movie franchise based on J.K. Rowling’s book series, and word comes out of Cannes that he’s now been attached to star in an adaptation of Dave Eggers’ bestselling novel You Shall Know Our Velocity, which will be directed by Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist).
The first novel by the popular award-winning writer was published in 2002, documenting his frustrating attempts to give money to deserving people while traveling around the globe. Radcliffe will play the awkward Will, who sets out with his bolder friend Hand for a two-week trip with a $32,000 insurance payoff from a friend’s fatal car accident in hopes of spreading his ashes at the Pyramids while giving the money away. The trip will include stops in Senegal and Morocco before they arrive in Egypt.
Adapted by Wells Tower, another journalist and writer of short stories for various prestigious magazines, the film is in pre-production and scheduled to start shooting in the spring of 2015, produced by Tim Perell (Process) and Michael Benaroya (Benaroya Pictures), and with International Film Trust handling the sales of the movie.
Before directing the 2008 adaptation of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, Sollett received three Independent Spirit Award nominations for his earlier film Raising Victor Vargas.
Another Eggers novel A Hologram for the King is currently in production starring Tom Hanks and directed by Tom Tykwer (Cloud Atlas).
Daniel Radcliffe (KILL YOUR DARLINGS, HARRY POTTER film series) is attached to star in Peter Solletts (NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST) comedy YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY based on Dave Eggers best-selling novel. The film is produced by Tim Perell (SHORTBUS, LAST CHANCE HARVEY) for Process and Michael Benaroya (MARGIN CALL, KILL YOUR DARLINGS) for Benaroya Pictures. The announcement was made today by International Film Trusts (IFT) co-founder Michael Benaroya and IFTs President Christian de Gallegos who will handle all international rights to the film.
CAA and UTA are representing the domestic sales rights on YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY.
Currently in pre-production and scheduled to start shooting in spring of 2015, YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY is written by Wells Tower and centers around two mismatched friends, Will (Radcliffe), bookish and lovingly awkward, and Hand, bold and a self-proclaimed ladies man, who set out on a two week trip, equipped with round-the-world plane tickets and a $32,000 insurance payoff from their friends ill-fated car accident. The goal is to randomly, clumsily giveaway the windfall to those in need while taking their friends ashes to the Pyramids. Their journey takes them from Senegal to Morocco to Riga and finally Egypt with trouble waiting at every step of the way.
Dave Eggers is a gifted story-teller and we are thrilled to be turning his hilarious yet poignant story of two best friends travelling the world into a feature film, said producer and IFT co-founder Michael Benaroya.
Playing the lead character in the biggest film franchise of all time, Daniel Radcliffe has managed to successfully establish himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation and he is perfect to play Will in Peter Solletts nomadic comedy adventure, said Christian de Gallegos.
Since completing the final installment in the series of eight HARRY POTTER films in 2010, Radcliffe has continued to prove himself a diverse and acclaimed talent. In 2011 he starred in a ten month sell-out run of the Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and in 2012 Radcliffe starred in Hammers THE WOMAN IN BLACK, which has since become the most successful British horror film of all time, in addition to box office success in the US. Notably, Radcliffe made his west end and Broadway debuts in Peter Shaffers Equus in 2008/09.
Peter Sollett was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Director, Best Film and Best Screenplay (shared with Eva Vives) for his critically acclaimed film RAISING VICTOR VARGAS which had its world premiere at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the romantic comedy NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST starring Kat Dennings and Michael Cera.
Tim Perell produced SHORTBUS which premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and earned him and fellow producer, Howard Gertler, the Independent Spirit Award for Producer of the Year. His other feature film credits include A.C.O.D starring Amy Poehler, Adam Scott and Richard Jenkins, LAST CHANCE HARVEY starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, Bobcat Goldthwaits WORLDS GREATEST DAD starring Robin Williams, and TRUST THE MAN starring David Duchovny, Julianne Moore and Billy Crudup. His upcoming film LOVE PUNCH, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, stars Emma Thompson and Pierce Brosnan and will be released in 2014 by Ketchup Entertainment.
Dave Eggers is the best-selling author of The Circle and A Hologram for the King, which was a 2012 National Book Award Finalist and which is making its cinematic debut in 2015, directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Tom Hanks. His best-selling memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and his novel What is the What was winner of Frances Prix Medici. Eggers also co-wrote WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE with Spike Jonze, based on Maurice Sendaks best-selling childrens book.
Wells Tower is the author of the short story collection Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. His short stories and journalism have appeared in GQ, The New Yorker, Harpers Magazine, McSweeneys, The Paris Review, The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, and The Washington Post Magazine. In 2010 Tower was named by The New Yorker magazine’s “20 under 40” luminary fiction writers.
Radcliffe is represented by Sue Latimer at ARG in the UK and by UTA in the U.S. and attorney Fred Toczek.
(Photo Credit: Daniel Deme/WENN.com)
