Director Walter Salles and his screenwriting partner Jose Rivera have signed on to adapt Philip Meyer's debut novel American Rust, possibly coming to the screen via Universal, who get first look at the completed script.
The novel is about two friends from a derelict Pennsylvanian mill town who hit the road in search of something better, but only encounter violence, mistrust and urban degeneration. Set in 2002, it nevertheless taps into the tradition of depression-era Americana, from authors like William Faulkner and John Steinbeck. Some critics have compared Meyer to Cormac McCarthy.
A downbeat story certainly, but with John Hillcoat's hotly anticipated The Road (from McCarthy's novel) finally approaching, it may be that that's not the gloomy prospect for a major studio that it once might have appeared. Salles and Rivera previously brought us the excellent Motorcycle Diaries, which might give some indication of the tone and approach we'd see here.
The pair are also working on bringing Junot Diaz's epic novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and Jack Kerouac's On The Road to the screen.