Irish Director John Carney, who helmed the acclaimed ‘Once’, has signed a deal to direct ‘Dogs of Babel’, Mandate’s adaptation of the Carolyn Parkhurst novel starring Steve Carell.
Jamie Linden adapted the script from Carolyn Parkhurst’s novel about a linguistics professor who comes home to find his wife dead in the yard, with the family dog the only witness. His grieving process takes an odd turn, and the widower becomes convinced that he can teach the dog to talk and learn how his wife died.
Carell is producing the comedy-drama through his Carousel Productions with David Heyman and his Heyday Films and Dooma Wendschuh and Corey May of sekretagent Productions.
A bittersweet, music-themed love story starring Frames frontman Glen Hansard and newcomer Marketa Irglova, ‘Once’ won the 2007 Oscar for original song. Made for less than €1 million, the film became a critical and art-house hit after Fox Searchlight acquired it at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
Carney's work will next be seen via the independent supernatural drama "The Rafters," which he recently finished shooting.
