Jez Butterworth Adapting Don DeLillo’s ‘The Silence’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Jez Butterworth will adapt Don DeLillo’s “The Silence” for the screen, Variety has learned. Producer Uri Singer, who is also producing and helped put together Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of another DeLillo novel, “White Noise,” has secured the rights to the book, which was published in 2020.

“The Silence” unfolds at a dinner party in Manhattan during Super Bowl Sunday in the year 2022. The diners include a retired physics professor, her husband and her former student. They are waiting for a couple, who is set to join them after flying in from Paris. To share more might risk ruining the post-modern twists and turns.

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Vincent Sieber (“The Chronicles of Narnia” at Netflix) of Midnight Road will produce alongside Singer.

Butterworth is one of the most acclaimed playwrights working today. He has written such award-winning plays as “Jerusalem,” “The River,” “Mojo” and “The Ferryman.” He won the Olivier Award for best play for “The Ferryman” and the Tony Award for best play when the show transferred to Broadway in 2019.

Butterworth has also written several high-profile screenplays. His film work includes writing or co-writing the scripts for “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Fair Game,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Black Mass,” “Flag Day” and “Spectre.” Butterworth is co-writing the untitled fifth Indiana Jones film along with John-Henry Butterworth and James Mangold, the film’s director. In addition to those works, Butterworth directed and co-wrote the 2001 film “Birthday Girl.”

“White Noise” is being directed by Noah Baumbach, and stars Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig. Singer’s credits include “Marjorie Prime” and “Tesla.” He also recently optioned another DeLillo project, “Underworld.”

Butterworth is represented by CAA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.

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