As if Jeff Lemire didn’t already have a million other things going on, it appears he has another project on the horizon, producing a big screen adaptation of his graphic novel “The Underwater Welder.” Lemire’s graphic novel from IDW/Top Shelf is set to be adapted by none other than Ryan Gosling along with Ken Kao and Anonymous Entertainment. Lemire, Chris Staros (Editor–in–Chief, Top Shelf), and Ted Adams (CEO and Publisher, IDW Publishing) are attached as executive producers.
“The Underwater Welder” came out in 2012 and is written and illustrated by Lemire. The story follows Jack Joseph who is indeed an underwater welder used to the pressures of deep-sea work off the coast of Nova Scotia. Jack is also soon to be a father, but the farther he dives the more disillusioned with his young wife and unborn child he becomes, but then, at the bottom of the ocean Jack has a supernatural encounter with the ghost of his father. This story deals with themes of parenthood and memory as Jack comes to terms with his soon to be new life.
This adaption isn’t the first time Gosling and Kao have worked together as they collaborated on The Nice Guys and Song to Song. Anonymous Entertainment also recently produced Spotlight and The Revenant.
This series follows the continued Hollywood trend of tackling comics and graphic novels for the big screen. No director or actors have been announced yet.
Check out the full PR statement below:
Ryan Gosling, Ken Kao and Anonymous Content will produce the Best-Selling Graphic Novel ‘The Underwater Welder’ from Award-winning Cartoonist Jeff Lemire
The New York Times Bestseller from Top Shelf/IDW has been Optioned for a Feature Film
THE UNDERWATER WELDER, is the mind–bending graphic novel written by critically acclaimed, award–winning cartoonist, Jeff Lemire, and published by Top Shelf/IDW.
Ryan Gosling, Ken Kao and Anonymous Content will produce the film.
The New York Times bestselling graphic novel details a man in the dangerous profession of underwater welding, who has a supernatural encounter at the bottom of the sea.
Jeff Lemire, Chris Staros (Editor–in–Chief, Top Shelf), and Ted Adams (CEO and Publisher, IDW Publishing) are attached as executive producers.
The deal was brokered on Jeff Lemire’s behalf by Angela Cheng Caplan of the Cheng Caplan Company, Inc. and Allison Binder, esq. of Stone, Genow, Smelkinson, Binder & Christopher, LLP, and on Top Shelf/IDW’s behalf by Tuvyah Aronoff of Schwell Wimpfheimer & Associates.
About IDW
IDW Media Holdings, Inc. (OCTQX: IDWM) is a fully integrated media company, which includes publishing, games, entertainment, and the San Diego Comic Art Gallery.IDW Publishing’s comic book and graphic novel catalog includes some of the world’s most popular entertainment brands, including Transformers, My Little Pony, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, and Disney’s classic characters. At IDW’s core is its commitment to creator-owned comics including 30 Days of Night, Locke & Key, Wormwood, Ragnarök, V-Wars, and Archangel by bestselling sci-fi author William Gibson.
IDW Publishing is also home to the acclaimed and award-winning imprints; Top Shelf, The Library of American Comics, Yoe! Books, and Artist Editions, showcasing the greatest original art ever published in American comic books.
IDW Games’ diverse line-up includes the international phenomenon Machi Koro, as well as hit licensed games such as X-Files, Back to the Future, The Godfather, and TMNT.
IDW Entertainment serves as the worldwide distributor of Wynonna Earp airing on the Syfy Channel in the U.S. and is producing BBC America’s Dirk Gently, based the best seller by Douglas Adams starring Elijah Wood and Sam Barnett.
[11:48]About Waypoint Entertainment
Waypoint Entertainment is a film and television development, production, and finance company with a slate that includes: Scott Cooper’s Hostiles starring Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike; Martin Zandvliet’s The Outsider starring Jared Leto; Shane Black’s detective thriller The Nice Guys starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling; Woody Harrelson’s Lost in London starring Harrelson, Owen Wilson, and Willie Nelson; and Terrence Malick’s Song to Song starring Ryan Gosling Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, and Rooney Mara.About Anonymous Content
Founded in 1999 by Managing Partner Steve Golin, Anonymous Content is a leading management and Film, TV and Commercial production company.. Anonymous Content’s clients have been recognized with Academy Awards®, Emmys®, Golden Globes®, Tony Awards®, Pulitzer Prizes® and other prestigious awards. The company’s award-winning Film & TV division boasts many commercially successful and critically-acclaimed works, including BABEL, WINTER’S BONE, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, 50 FIRST DATES, , THE REVENANT and Best Picture Academy Award winning SPOTLIGHT. The company’s TV slate includes “True Detective” (HBO), “The Knick” (Cinemax), “Mr. Robot” (USA Network), “and “Berlin Station” (EPIX), as well as upcoming titles “13 Reasons Why” (Netflix), “The Alienist” (TNT), and “Maniac” (Netflix). Through its Commercial work, Anonymous Content is also the driving creative force behind countless top brands, including Prada, Nike and Coke. In 2016, Anonymous Content received a substantial minority investment from Emerson Collective, the organization founded and run by Laurene Powell Jobs, to allow the firm to expand its production offerings in socially-relevant content aimed at inspiring change.
