Jane Campion May Direct Adaptation of The Flamethrowers

As far as book-to-movie adaptations go, this is one to be excited about: The Guardian reports that Jane Campion is nearing a deal to direct the big-screen version of Rachel Kushner’s critically adored novel The Flamethrowers.

Campion, who recently directed 2013’s Top of the Lake, but is best known for the Oscar-winning The Piano (1993), revealed in an interview that she’s “on the verge of closing a deal” to helm an adaptation of the novel — a National Book Award finalist last year — about a young artist who tries to make a name for herself in 1970s New York, before traveling to Italy. The project would reportedly be produced by Scott Rudin, who’s worked on films such as There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men, among others.

No other details about the project have been announced, but it would be in good hands if Campion gets the gig. The New Zealander was not only the first woman to win the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, a Palme d’Or, and the second woman to ever be nominated for Best Director Oscar, but she’s also the current president of the Cannes Film Festival jury.

[The Guardian]