Ever since it was published in 2003 and won the Booker Prize, there’s been talk about turning DBC Pierre’s novel Vernon God Little into a movie. However it’s never happened, partly because of the sensitive subject matter – it’s set in the wake of a school shooting.
However now Variety reports Rescue Dawn and Fitzcarraldo helmer Werner Herzog is set to direct a movie version of the book. The Texas-set novel follows the titular teenager, who is the chief focus of scorn in a horrendous high school shooting that’s left 17 dead, including Vernon’s best friend, Jesus Navarro.
It was Jesus who was the killer, but as his final act was suicide, the mourning town needs someone to blame and so Vernon becomes the target. Fearing he’ll be roped in as an accomplice to this heinous act, Vernon hightails it to Mexico, where he hopes to find salvation on the beach in a cabin he once saw in a movie. But as he dashes across the border, the police and voracious TV news crews are on his tail.
With the book having a tone that’s described as satirical and as critical of a materialism obsessed America as it is the violent acts it believes that spawns, it’s been a tricky prospect to turn that into a film. However German-born Herzog has never been one to shy away from a tough challenge. Andrew Birkin (Perfume) is on screenplay duties.
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