Skip to main content

The director of Captain Fantastic will direct adaptation of Tomorrow and Tomorrow

The director of Captain Fantastic will direct adaptation of Tomorrow and Tomorrow

/

Tom Sweterlitsch’s novel came out in 2014

Share this story

G.P. Putnam's Sons

Matt Ross, known for his work as director of last year’s Captain Fantastic, has signed on to direct an adaptation of Tomorrow and Tomorrow, a cyberpunk murder mystery set in a virtual world.

In a statement, Ross pointed to the book’s relevancy and the role that technology plays in our everyday interactions. “I hope to examine, following the book’s lead, the degree to which our lives are enhanced, and deeply compromised, by the technology that is already an inseparable part of our daily existence.” That’s fitting, because you might recognize Ross from HBO’s Silicon Valley, where he plays Gavin Belson, the Chief Innovation Officer of Hooli.

Written by Tom Sweterlitsch, Tomorrow and Tomorrow a novel is set in the near future a decade after Pittsburgh was destroyed in an explosion. In its place, a digital memorial called The Archive allows people to visit the city and their loved ones. One such mourner, John Blaxton, spends his time investigating murders in the virtual world, and when he comes across an unrecorded murder, he finds himself in the midst of a larger mystery. You can read the book’s first chapter over on io9.

The book was particularly praised for its depiction of its post-apocalyptic future, and how technology allows us to relive the past, even when it’s probably not the healthiest of choices. Blaxton can’t give up the memories of his dead wife and unborn child, and his discovery that the Archive might have been hacked, it raises the question of whether or not other memories are accurate.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow isn’t the only book by Sweterlitsch that’s potentially headed to theaters. Fox acquired his next book, a “time travel procedural” called The Gone World in 2015, with District 9 director Neill Blomkamp in talks to direct.