Austin Butler is set to star in a film adaptation of Charlie Huston’s novel Caught Stealing, Deadline reports.
Huston’s thriller, published in 2004 by Ballantine, follows Hank Thompson, a New York bartender who agrees to watch a neighbor’s cat and is savagely beaten by two Russians who think he has something they’re looking for. He dodges criminals and police officers while trying to figure out why they’re on his trail.
A critic for Kirkus wrote of the novel, “Impressive debut, though not for the squeamish: a torture sequence, unsparingly clinical, lasts the better part of twenty pages.”
Butler, who was nominated for an Academy Award for playing the title role in Baz Luhrmann’s film Elvis, will star in the adaptation, which is being directed by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Whale) and written by Huston. Sony Pictures is developing the film.
Butler is also set to star in another literary adaptation: a film based on Don Winslow’s City on Fire. He recently appeared in Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel.
“I am excited to be teaming up with my old friends at Sony Pictures to bring Charlie’s adrenaline-soaked roller coaster ride to life. I can’t wait to start working with Austin and my family of NYC filmmakers,” Aronofsky told Deadline.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
