Actor and debut director Simon Baker’s adaptation of Tim Winton’s surfer novel Breath become a critical and popular success when it was released earlier this year.
The film pocketed $4.5 million at the Australian box office and is verified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
This is good news for fans of the beloved Australian author, because it means that more Winton adaptations are on the way.
So far two have been announced: movie versions of the 1994 novel The Riders and the 2002 novel Dirt Music.
The Riders has been scooped up by legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott’s production company Scott Free, with Scott signed on as producer. It follows an Australian expatriate who undertakes a frantic search for his wife after she mysteriously vanishes.
Winton said about The Riders and its upcoming adaptation: “Of all my novels it always seemed to me that The Riders was by far the most cinematic, so this is very welcome news.”
Dirt Music has already commenced production, kicking off principal photography earlier this month. It is a thriller set in the harsh climate of Western Australia that revolves around two emotionally fragile people.
Here’s hoping that both of them deliver the goods.
