Styron's 'Darkness' may see the big-screen light + see

By Steven Zeitchik

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - William Styron's Southern family drama "Lie Down in Darkness" is getting another shot at the big screen thanks to "Boys Don't Cry" producer Jeffrey Sharp.

The critically acclaimed best-seller, which came out in 1951, tells the story of the rich, troubled Loftis family, centering on daughter Peyton, who winds up fleeing for the New York art world. It was Styron's first book, written when he was 22.

Late filmmaker John Frankenheimer optioned it in the 1960s, and theater producer Jay Fuchs worked on the project in the '80s, but also ran into difficulties.

Sharp, who has a production company set up at News Corp.-owned publisher HarperCollins, said the time was ripe for another attempt, particularly in the wake of two other literary adaptations of period works: Joe Wright's "Atonement" and Sam Mendes' upcoming "Revolutionary Road," which Sharp helped develop.

"With those two books being turned into movies, it feels like an appropriate time to do this,"' Sharp said. "The story can be told now with a modern perspective."

Sharp has enlisted the late author's daughter, Susanna, a filmmaker who will serve as a producer and be actively involved in the project.

Styron wrote eight books over a long, complicated career, but only "Sophie's Choice" was turned into a film. That Alan Pakula picture garnered five Oscar nominations in 1982. While the setting and themes of the two books differ, Sharp noted that "the common thread is that Styron has the innate ability to get into the underdog character, to see the disenfranchised and tragically doomed, particularly women."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter