In a competitive situation, Netflix has landed the rights to the novel “Leave the World Behind” by Rumaan Alam which will reunite Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington on screen for the first time since 1993’s “The Pelican Brief.”
Sam Esmail, the creator of “Mr. Robot,” will both write the adaptation and direct. Roberts and Washington are attached to headline.
Roberts is producing the project through her Red Om Films banner. Washington, Esmail and Chad Hamilton are producing through Esmail Corp. The novel’s author Rumaan Alam is the executive producer. Additionally, Red Om’s Lisa Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill will also be involved in a producorial capacity.
“Leave the World Behind” is a magnetic story about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong. Suspenseful and provocative, Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. “Leave the World Behind” explores how our closest bonds are reshaped–and unexpected new ones are forged–in moments of crisis. The book will be published by Ecco this October.
Roberts is represented by CAA and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof + Fishman. Washington is represented by WME and Hansen Jacobson. Esmail is represented by CAA and McKuin Frankel Whitehead. Alam is represented by CAA and Julia Barer at The Book Group.
Deadline first reported the news.