Scott Rudin buys film rights to Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom

A favorite novel of mine (and I think Sasha’s too) is Jonathan Franzen’s 2001 archaeological excavation of an American family, The Corrections. Since I’d hate to decide what parts of that sprawling saga might get trimmed for an adaptation, it’s hard to visualize the story on the screen unless spread across the canvas of a 10-part HBO miniseries. Deadline today has the exclusive news that Scott Rudin sees new potential to finally put some Franzen on film.

Producer Scott Rudin has closed a deal for movie rights to Freedom, the first novel that Jonathan Franzen has published since his National Book Award winner The Corrections nearly 10 years earlier… Freedom’s focus is the slowly disintegrating relationship of Patty and Walter Berglund, socially conscious college sweethearts, who lose each other and their own moral compasses over the years to temptations both corporate and carnal. Early reviews say its richly drawn characters compares favorably with The Corrections, which Rudin years back also optioned. Scott hasn’t yet set up Freedom at a studio or assigned a writer to adapt it.

Franzen appears on the cover of TIME magazine this week. Freedom hits bookstore shelves August 31.

Tags: Scott Rudin