 Hornby's new novel is published in the UK on Thursday |
Hollywood has snapped up the rights to Nick Hornby's latest novel A Long Way Down before it has even been published, according to reports. The book, in shops from Thursday, tells of four suicidal Londoners who meet on a tower block roof on New Year's Eve.
Johnny Depp will co-produce the Warner Brothers project in a deal said to be worth millions of pounds, the Daily Telegraph said.
Film versions have already been made of three of Hornby's previous novels.
High Fidelity and About a Boy were filmed in 2000 and 2002 respectively, while there have been two versions of Fever Pitch set on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
Rights to Hornby's 2001 novel How To Be Good have also been sold.
 Depp will co-produce the film and possibly play the lead role |
Hornby is currently working on two screenplays - an adaptation of a piece by journalist Lynn Barber and a collaboration with Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson.
According to the Telegraph Depp will co-produce the film with Graham King and David Heyman, producers of The Aviator and the Harry Potter films respectively.
"I am thrilled to be involved with such a masterful work," the newspaper quoted Depp as saying. "The cinematic possibilities are extraordinary."
A Long Way Down, he said, was "brimming with some of the finest writing and some of the most outstanding characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading".
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