--- description: Lake Bell to direct film adaptation of 'The Emperor's Children' title: Lake Bell to direct film adaption of ‘The Emperor's Children’ image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c26e136819ec366/6986a10c1eebf7789b372688/lake-bell.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lake Bell to Direct Film Adaption of _The Emperor's Children_: Reports by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2014 8:20 AM CUT  Actress Lake Bell arrives at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California on March 1, 2014. Actress Lake Bell arrives at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California on March 1, 2014.Danny Moloshok—Reuters by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2014 8:20 AM CUT Actress and promising auteur Lake Bell is [booked to direct](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lake-bell-direct-adaptation-emperor-728313 "undefined") the film adaptation of Claire Messud’s 2006 novel _The Emperor’s Children,_ according to the _Hollywood Reporter._ The feature is set to be produced by Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, while the screenplay has reportedly been penned by indie-film stalwart Noah Baumbach. There is no word yet on when the movie will hit theaters. The narrative follows the lives of three affluent but struggling late-20-somethings leading up to and after 9/11, according to the _Hollywood Reporter_. The novel was long-listed for the 2006 Man Booker Prize and picked up the 2007 Massachusetts Book Award for fiction. _The Emperor’s Children_ will be Bell’s second feature film to direct following the success of her helmer debut _In a World_. \[[_Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lake-bell-direct-adaptation-emperor-728313 "undefined")\] Hollywood: Lake Bell to Direct Adaptation of 'The Emperor's Children' ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3187597/lake-bell-the-emperors-child/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3187597/lake-bell-the-emperors-child/"},"headline":"Lake Bell to Direct Film Adaption of The Emperor's Children: Reports","datePublished":"2014-08-27T08:20:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:52:28.442Z","description":"The budding director is set to tackle her next project following the success of her debut In a World","url":"https://time.com/3187597/lake-bell-the-emperors-child/","keywords":["movies","Hollywood"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c26e136819ec366/6986a10c1eebf7789b372688/lake-bell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c26e136819ec366/6986a10c1eebf7789b372688/lake-bell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Actress Lake Bell arrives at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica","caption":"Actress Lake Bell arrives at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica","creditText":"Danny Moloshok—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3187597/lake-bell-the-emperors-child/","name":"Lake Bell to Direct Film Adaption of The Emperor's Children: Reports"}}]}] ```