English actor Nicholas Hoult will star as famous American writer J. D. Salinger in the biopic ‘Rebel in the Rye’, with Danny Strong directing from his own screenplay.
The script was adapted from the Kenneth Slawenski biography ‘J. D. Salinger: A Life’, Variety reported.
The movie will explore the life and mind of the secretive author and the story of the birth of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’. The film will explore his rebellious youth, his experiences on the bloody front lines of World War II, enduring great love and terrible loss, a life of rejection to the pages of the New Yorker and his writer’s block - which led to a spiritual awakening.
Bloom Films will introduce the movie to foreign buyers at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival. “Salinger’s only novel ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a classic coming-of-age story which continues to make a significant impression six generations later,” said Alex Walton of Bloom. “The world has long been fascinated with Salinger, whom the talented Hoult will bring to life in this enigmatic role.”
Strong is known best for creating the series ‘Empire’. His screenplay credits include the two ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay’ films.
Hoult’s credits include ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’.
Jerome David Salinger (1919-2010) was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980.
Raised in Manhattan, Salinger published several short stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II.
In 1948 he published the critically acclaimed story ‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish’ in The New Yorker magazine, which became home to much of his subsequent work.
