Hot off their Indie Spirit Award win for best feature for “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Annapurna and Plan B have set their next film project with an adaptation of Alex Michaelides’ best-selling novel “The Silent Patient.”
As part of their three-year production pact, the companies have optioned the rights to the novel published under Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan.
“The Silent Patient” follows Alicia Berenson, a celebrated painter married to a fashion photographer who enjoys life a the top of London society. Without explanation, Alicia shoots her husband Gabriel in the face five times when he returns late from work one evening, sparking an international scandal and subsequently sending the value of her art through the roof.
Sequestered in a North London police forensic unit, Alicia refuses to speak a word about the crime and her potential motives. When a criminal psychotherapist named Theo takes on her case, determined to get answers and unravel the mystery, his own motives send him down a dark path in search of the truth.
Annapurna’s newly appointed chief content officer Sue Naegle and film division president Ivana Lombardi will oversee for Annapurna. Michaelides is represented by Katie Haines at The Agency and Sam Copeland at RCW. Plan B is run by actor Brad Pitt and producers Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner.
Under the partnership, the labels have produced “If Beale Street Could Talk” (which took the top prize from the Film Independent Spirit Awards in late February), Adam McKay’s “Vice” and an upcoming indie from Miranda July.