Warp Films has just bought the rights to Ian McDonald's Hugo-nominated novel The Dervish House. Though often these kinds of deals don't lead to anything - several of Charles Stross' novels, for example, have been optioned and never been adapted. But Warp Films executive producer Peter Carlson seems pretty serious. In a statement about the acquisition, he said:
We're delighted to have the chance to adapt THE DERVISH HOUSE for the screen, set in that most iconic of cities, crossroads of east and west, past and future, Istanbul. It starts with an explosion on a tram and ends in a race to stop a terrorist plot, but in the meantime Ian somehow weaves together speculative share trading, nanotechnology and Islamic microcalligraphy, to name but a few strands in this visual feast that has a narrative sweep and ambition all too rare in contemporary fiction.
Warp's latest flick is Submarine, written and directed by The I.T. Crowd's awesome Richard Ayoade - it's a coming-of-age story with a decidedly weird bent. I'm cautiously optimistic that Warp Films will do a good job with McDonald's weird visions, too.
via Zeno Agency (Thanks, Lou Anders!)
