Sundance: 'Spectacular Now' Director Boards YA Novel 'Pure' for Fox 2000 (Exclusive)

James Ponsoldt, whose indie Spectacular Now debuts Friday at Sundance, has been tapped to adapt Pure, the YA trilogy set up at Fox 2000 and being produced by Karen Rosenfelt.

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The move is the first studio play for Ponsoldt, who wrote and directed Smashed, an indie drama that proved to be a hit at last year's Sundance, and directed Spectacular Now, which stars Shailene Woodley and counts Shawn Levy among its producers.

Pure is set in a post-apocalyptic world divided into two societies: the Pures, who live under a dome and are healthy and beautiful, and the Wretches, those scarred by the devastation. In this world, Pressia, a Wretch on the run, teams up with the son of the leader of the Pures.

The book, by Julianna Baggott, is part of a planned trilogy. The second installment, Fuse, is due to be published Feb. 19. (The first tome was released in September2012.)

Ponsoldt will write the script and is attached to direct.

The filmmaker is making a name for his character dramas that feature two solitudes. Smashed, which starred Aaron Paul and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, focused on an freewheeling alcoholic couple whose love is tested when the wife decides to become sober. (The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and Ponsoldt was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.)

Spectacular Now, which stars Woodley and Miles Teller, centers on a hard-partying high school senior whose life is changed when he meets a shy girl. Spectacular is Ponsoldt's third movie in a row to receive a Sundance bow.

Ponsoldt is repped by UTA and Brillstein Entertainment.

Email: Borys.Kit@thr.com
Twitter: @Borys_Kit