“Townie,” Andre Dubus III’s memoir of his youth in Haverhill, Massachusetts, is getting the silver screen treatment. Dubus announced this month that he signed a contract to penn the screenplay of his best-selling book.
The book chronicles Dubus’ violent teenage and young adult years in the old mill town and how it contradicted the world of his father, a prominent writer.
Dubus did not identify the men who bought the rights to the story, but did say they are two brothers working as actors and producers on the west coast. He also declined to announce how much he was paid in the deal.
Dubus did say that he plans for a majority of film to be shot in Haverhill and Newburyport, the town his family resided in before his parents’ divorce and their subsequent move to Haverhill. Dubus revealed it was too soon to say who would be cast in the film, but he plans on being intimately involved in the casting process.
“Townie” will be the second of Dubus’ books to be made into a film. His 1999 novel, “House of Sand and Fog” became a film in 2003, starring Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards.
Listen to Dubus’ announcement below to make “Townie” a Hollywood film!
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Look forward to more news about the production and hope some of the casting will be done locally. There’s a lot of talent in Massachusetts longing for work.