Danny Strong’s J.D. Salinger Biopic ‘Rebel in the Rye’ Nabbed by IFC Films

More than a month after its Sundance premiere, Danny Strong’s J.D. Salinger film Rebel in the Rye has been nabbed by IFC Films for North America. 

Written and directed by Strong, the biographical drama stars Nicholas Hoult as the infamously reclusive author as he embarks on his writing career while studying at Columbia University, under the mentorship of his professor Whit Burnett (Kevin Spacey). Upon experiencing the horrors of World War II and a tumultuous relationship with young starlet Oona O’Neill (Zoey Deutch), Salinger begins to pen what would become his iconic masterpiece, The Catcher in the Rye.

Sarah Paulson, Hope Davis, Victor Garber and Brian d’Arcy James also star in the film.

Strong, Bruce Cohen, Jason Shuman, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill and Trent Luckinbill produced the pic, with Ellen H. Schwartz, Scott Ferguson, Matthew Salloway and Christina Papagjika as executive producers.

Rebel in the Rye screened in the Premieres section at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, with The Hollywood Reporter’s review calling the movie “an extremely conventional biopic about a wholly unconventional writer.”

The deal was negotiated by CAA on behalf of the filmmakers.