First Patrick Süskind, then David Mitchell and now Dave Eggers... Tom Tykwer seems to be developing something of a thing for highly ambitious literary adaptations. Following last week's news that the German director is planning an adaptation of Mitchell's wonderful Russian doll of a novel, Cloud Atlas, comes the revelation that he's also well underway developing Eggers' What Is What: The Autobiography Of Valentino Achak Deng for the screen.
Eggers' semi-fictional memoir tells the story of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese teenager orphaned when his family is killed during the country's civil war. Deng becomes one of the refugee 'Lost Boys of Sudan', embarking on a perilous journey across Africa before eventually arriving in America where he discovers life can be equally hazardous. It's powerful, emotive stuff, and offers plenty of scope for Tykwer's trademark pedal-to-the-metal narrative style.
It looks like a hectic year ahead for the German director. He's currently promoting The International, a timely thriller in which Clive Owen joins the rest of the world in wanting to hunt down high-flying bankers, and is also working on that Cloud Atlas adaptation for the Wachowski Brothers.
What Is The What looks like being Tykwer's next directorial gig, and sounds considerably more filmable than Cloud Atlas. What do you think? Can he pull it off or is it time someone confiscated his library card?