Another novel set for adaptation, Z For Zachariah will expand further on Hollywood’s latest trend. A world struck by devastation. The project was announced last summer by Compliance director Craig Zobel, hot off the back of his success at Sundance. A press release has revealed this week that the film has gathered steam with three new leads as Chris Pine, Amanda Seyfried and Chiwitel Ejiofor have now been confirmed to star.
Based on the novel by Robert C. O’Brien, Z For Zachariah follows 16-year old Ann Burden. After enduring a nuclear war and torrents of nerve gas, the teenager believes herself to be the only survivor of the catastrophe. Living on a farm in a small valley with a self-contained weather system, she is able to subsist with what’s deemed to be the only remaining breathable air. After a year of residing alone, she comes to learn that she is not the only one who escaped the incident.
The film’s script by Nissar Modi snatched the number 26 spot on Hollywood’s premier list of best unproduced screenplays, The Blacklist. Modi, a relative newcomer also wrote 2013’s little-known Breaking At The Edge starring Milo Ventimiglia and Andie Macdowell.
Pine’s star is on the rise in Tinseltown, as this announcement comes on the cusp of his latest sci-fi endeavour, Star Trek Into Darkness. The actor, who made a big splash with the first Star Trek reboot in 2009 has quite a full plate at the moment. In addition, he’s also signed onto Joe Carnahan’s Stretch. He’ll join Patrick Wilson who has bagged the role of a billionaire’s chauffeur who takes the brunt of his boss’s anger. That sweet role has yet to be filled. Not by Pine, however as he will only surface for a cameo.
Rounding out the project is Tobey Maguire, on board as producer. It’s not known whether or not he will appear in the film.
Z For Zachariah is scheduled to begin shooting this August.