The Hollywood Reporter has word that the much-awaited film adaptation of Jennifer Niven's YA novel "All the Bright Places" has finally found its director, Miguel Arteta. The award-winning helmer first charmed moviegoers with his independent film "Chuck & Buck."
Empire Online says that the nature of the movie is unchartered territory for Arteta, owing to the fact that he has worked mainly on comedy films such as "Cedar Rapids" and "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" during the course of his directing career.
As the abovementioned site details, Niven's book chronicles the heart-wrenching story of a popular cheerleader named Violet Malarkey, who is unable to move on from her sister's death. She considers taking her own life by jumping off the school's bell tower, a decision that will change her life forever.
This is where she meets a boy named Theodore Finch, who was always labeled as the "weird" one. He himself has plans on killing himself and is fascinated by death. But it seems that the universe has other plans and that includes setting aside what stereotypes say they are and making them the best of friends.
As per The Guardian, "All the Bright Places," which was published by Random House Children's Books and Knopf Books for Young Readers, was greeted with "overwhelmingly positive reviews" when it was released in January. The site says that this enthusiastic response is largely due to its emotional force.
Variety adds that the book is sold to 35 regions and currently owns the fifth spot in the New York Times bestseller list.
The book is described as a mixture of Rainbow Rowell's "Eleanor and Park" and John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars," which was also made into a film that starred Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley last year .
Violet will be played by Elle Fanning, Variety confirms. There's no word yet on who will play the role of Theodore, but production is expected to begin spring next year. Behind the camera, Niven, who is also known for founding online literary teen magazine Germ, will write the script for the romance flick.
"'All the Bright Places' is a very personal story for me," Niven said in a statement picked up by THR. "Mazur/Kaplan, Miguel and Demarest Media have given the book and me the most wonderfully supportive, creative home, and they are as invested in Finch and Violet as I am," she added.