Edgar Wright Chose Future Project Grasshopper Jungle Via Facebook

Director Edgar Wright says that he came on board future film ‘Grasshopper Jungle’ thanks to a series of comments on his Facebook page.

While the adaptation of Andrew Smith’s YA sci-fi novel is unlikely to be Wright’s next film (an original project entitled ‘Baby Driver’ is expected next from the British filmmaker), Wright is indeed on board to helm ‘Grasshopper Jungle’ - and it’s all thanks to an anonymous Facebook friend who suggested he should.

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Speaking to Vulture (and doing his best to dodge any questions pertaining to Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man,’ which he notoriously walked away from last year), Wright says, “I’ll tell you what, here’s what genuinely happened. On Facebook, somebody whom I don’t really know that well said, ‘Edgar Wright, you have to make a movie of Grasshopper Jungle.’

"And then underneath, Matt Tolmach — who had the rights to it — wrote, ‘I agree.’ And then Andrew Smith said, ‘I also agree!’ So I emailed Matt and said, ‘Send me this book.’

"What’s weird is that I’d actually read an Entertainment Weekly review of it on a plane, and they gave it an A-minus, and I remember thinking, Oh, that sounds like my cup of tea. I must get that book. And I promptly forgot about it until this Facebook thing came up.

"There’d never been this much pressure to love a book, but even ten pages into it, I thought, This is great.”

Andrew Smith’s 2014 novel centres on a small town in Iowa which is invaded by six-foot preying mantises. Three local teens, who also happen to be caught up in a bisexual love triangle, must deal with the threat. It all sounds unorthodox enough to be right up Wright’s street.

Wright’s attachment to ‘Grasshopper Jungle’ was first announced back at San Diego Comic Con in 2014; Deadline reported that Scott Rosenberg would write the screenplay, whilst Wright’s regular producer Nira Park is also said to be on board.

This is not the first time a filmmaker has credited social media for launching a film. Director Don Coscarelli claimed that his 2012 cult hit ‘John Dies At The End’ came about after an e-mail from Amazon suggested he might enjoy David Wong’s novel.

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Picture Credit: WENN, Electric Monkey