Nearly two months after development of the project was first introduced, NEON has officially acquired the rights to Duke Johnson’s adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s Memory, entitled The Actor, with Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (First Man) leading the project.
RELATED: Ryan Gosling to Lead Duke Johnson’s The Actor
Stranded in 1950s Ohio after a brutal attack, actor Paul Cole (Gosling), suffering from severe memory loss, struggles to find his way back to his life in New York and reclaim what he has lost. The Actor follows a thrilling journey we must all make, to find home, to find love and ultimately to find ourselves.
Click here to purchase Westlake’s 2010 novel!
The film is being co-written and directed by Oscar nominee Duke Johnson (Anomalisa) alongside Stephen Cooney, with the former set to produce with Abigail Spencer via their Innerlight Films production banner alongside Gosling, Waypoint Entertainment’s Ken Kao and Paul Young via his MAKE GOOD label, while Charlie Kaufman will executive produce. The project marks the latest partnership between Gosling and Kao after teaming for Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Project Hail Mary at MGM and Leigh Whannell’s Wolfman at Universal, which is based on a story pitch from the star.
RELATED: The Gray Man: Ana de Armas Joins Evans & Gosling in Russo Brothers’ Netflix Thriller
The Actor also marks the latest film NEON has acquired in its early stage of development, which the previously did with Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, which took home four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay for Joon-ho. In addition to this film, Hail Mary and Wolfman, Gosling’s dance card includes the Russo Brothers’ helmed action thriller The Gray Man at Netflix, in which he’ll star alongside Chris Evans (Avengers: Endgame), and a stuntman drama at Universal Pictures directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2).
(Photo Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
