In a competitive situation, Universal elbowed out several suitors to pick up I Am Still Alive, a book package that has Ben Affleck attached to star in and produce.
Lori Evans Taylor is set to write the script for the adaptation, which Affleck will produce via his Pearl Street Films.
Kate Alice Marshall penned the book, which has been described as having tones of the Reese Witherspoon movie Wild, Danny Boyle’s survival drama 127 Hours and The Revenant, the wilderness revenge movie that starred Leonardo DiCaprio.
The story tells of a 16-year-old girl who is sent to live with her long-lost, and off-the-grid, father in the Canadian wilderness. When he’s murdered by men from his past, the girl and her dog are forced to survive on their own. Things get even more complicated when the men return, and the girl has a chance to exact vengeance.
Viking Books published I Am Still Alive in July, with the tome earning rave reviews and praise for having a female empowerment bent as well as a female hero to root for.
Affleck will play the father.
Taylor has a background in wild storytelling. She was a story producer on Animal Planet’s Untamed and Uncut and a segment producer on Paramount Network’s 1000 Ways to Die, before segueing into screenwriting. She has a thriller titled Bed Rest set up at MGM and an untitled thriller set up at Sony with Akiva Goldsman producing.
Affleck is currently shooting Torrance, a sports drama for Warner Bros. that he is starring in and producing.
Affleck is repped by WME and Ziffren Brittenham. Taylor is with ICM Partners, Kaplan/Perrons and McKuin Frankel. Marshall is repped by ICM Partners and Lisa Rodgers of JABerwocky Literary Agency
