Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, War Horse), Britain’s most successful screenwriter, has signed up to adapt Andy Mulligan’s novel, Trash, for Working Title. And just to make this a bit of a UK film powerhouse project, Variety reports that three-time Academy Award nominated director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader) is attached to helm the film.
Trash is a contemporary thriller set in the third world, and follows three boys who eke out a living picking through rubbish mounds, until a surprise discovery sets them on a breathtaking adventure pitting their wits against corruption and authority.
Author Andy Mulligan says: “As far as I’m concerned this is the dream-team, and what has really impressed me is their desire to tell the story as it is, without coating it in sugar. They ‘get’ the book, and you can’t ask for more than that.”
The current plan is to shoot the movie next year, and with Curtis and Daldry involved, it’s almost guaranteed this will be making an Oscar run at some point.