Phyllis Nagy to Write and Direct “The Vanished” for CJ Entertainment
Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Phyllis Nagy is best known for her adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s best-selling novel “Carol.” Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Nagy has signed on to both write and direct another adaptation, this time tackling an original work by journalist Lena Mauger and photographer Stephan Remeal.
Mauger and Remeal’s “The Vanished” investigates the annual disappearance of nearly 100,000 citizens throughout Japan. These “johatsu” (“evaporated”) become overwhelmed by “feelings of shame and hopelessness” due to failing careers, familial strains, or debt. They then seemingly vanish without a trace.
Nagy has stressed how the original work and its accompanying images have moved her. “Those who are disenfranchised, who have no voice, who are, in fact, wiped clean from the rolls of our collective society — these narratives, though specific to Japan, increasingly find their terrible parallels in all corners of the world,” she said. “And these global connections and resonances draw me powerfully to this tale.”
“The Vanished” will be developed, financed, and produced by South Korean company CJ Entertainment. CJ’s VP of Global Productions and Head of U.S. Production, Francis Chung, has stressed how “everything about Phyllis, from her storytelling approach and style to her research and investment into the material, makes her the perfect writer and director for this project.”
This marks Nagy’s first directorial project for the big screen. In 2006, she was nominated for two primetime Emmys for writing and directing HBO’s “Mrs. Harris,” starring Annette Bening. Nagy is also attached to adapt and direct Patricia Cornwell’s first Kay Scarpetta novel, “Postmortem.”
