Charlie Kaufman will write and direct a film adaptation of Iain Reid’s debut novel, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, for Netflix. This will mark the Oscar-winning screenwriter’s third time directing a feature film, after Synecdoche, New York and Anomalisa.
Though he’s better known for his original scripts, Kaufman has plenty of experience with adaptations, notably Susan Orlean’s nonfiction book The Orchid Thief, which became Adaptation. Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a psychological thriller with a wild twist and a surreal style that makes it right up Kaufman’s alley. In fact, it’s so on brand for Kaufman that he actually penned a blurb for the novel. “I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an ingeniously twisted nightmare road trip through the fragile psyches of two young lovers,” he wrote. “My kind of fun!”