The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum in talks to take on The Shining Girls movie

Alert! The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum is reported to have set his sights on the film adaptation of Lauren Beukes’s The Shining Girls.

Trainspotting director Danny Boyle was previously attached to the project but, according to Variety, the Norwegian is the current favourite, and is “in talks to direct”.

American independent film and television studio Media Rights Capital will develop and finance the project, with Leonardo DiCaprio’s company Appian Way producing. DiCaprio will be joined by his partner Jennifer Davisson Killoran as producer.

Tyldum’s English language debut Imitation Game was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Director. His latest movie, a sci-fi titled Passengers starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, is in post production.

Rights for The Shining Girls were originally optioned for television in 2013. Beukes is no stranger to movie deals; her novel Zoo City was optioned for film in 2011, while a Broken Monsters drama series was mooted last year.

The Shining Girls, which is set in Chicago, features a time travelling serial killer and was the recipient of an extraordinary number of accolades, including Exclusive Books Book of the Year: Reader’s Choice Award, RT Book Awards Best Suspense Thriller, 2013/2014 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English and the Strand Magazine Critics Award for Best Novel.

 
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• Bellagio Center Residency Award winners include Lauren Beukes, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Victor Ehikhamenor
• Lauren Beukes shares her experiences of riding along with the Cape Town Metro Police
• Lauren Beukes Wins 2015 Mbokodo Award for Creative Writing
• ‘Stories allow us to be more than we are’ – watch Lauren Beukes’s TEDxJohannesburg Talk
• Loren Kruger Clarifies Her Stance on Lauren Beukes’ The Shining Girls at WiSER Seminar

Book details

• Maverick: Extraordinary women from South Africa’s past by Lauren Beukes, Nechama Brodie
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  EAN: 9781415207543
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• Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
  EAN: 9780857662705
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• Zoo City (SA edition) by Lauren Beukes
  EAN: 9781770098183
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• The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
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  EAN: 9781415202012
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• Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
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  EAN: 9781415202005
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Morten Tyldum image courtesy of Indiewire

Lauren Beukes image courtesy of Lauren Beukes on Facebook