Christopher Hampton to Write Screen Adaptation of Netherland

Oscar winner and celebrated playwright Christopher Hampton will write the screen adaptation of Joseph O’Neill’s award-winning novel Netherland, which is set in New York City, where a lonely Dutch expatriate becomes drawn to the sport of cricket, according to Variety.

The paper also reports that Oscar winner and renowned theater director Sam Mendes will co-produce the film (along with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and Focus Features) and may direct the film.

Hampton has also recently signed to write the English-language adaptation of the book and English lyrics for Michael Kunze’s musical Rebecca, based on the Daphne Du Maurier novel. The show, to be directed by Francesca Zambello and featuring music by Sylvester Levay, is now being developed for a possible run in Toronto, as well as productions on Broadway and in London.

Hampton is best known for the play Les Liaisons Dangereuses, for which he received a Tony Award nomination, and an Oscar for the screenplay for the film version, Dangerous Liaisons. He was recently represented on Broadway by his translation for The Seagull and the Roundabout Theatre Company is currently presenting his 1970 play The Philanthropist.

He is working on a new film version of East of Eden; his many other film credits include Carrington, Total Eclipse, Imagining Argentina, and Atonement.