‘The Dogs of Babel’ Speak to Crowley

What would you do if you came home one day and found your wife dead in the yard with your seemingly protection-deficient dog standing idly by? Well if you’re linguistics professor Paul Iverson you set about trying to teach said dog to talk in hopes of gaining some insight into the tragedy, of course. Sounds like a Charlie Kaufman premise, but it’s actually the zany plot of The Dogs of Babel. Hipster indie house Mandate Pictures, who brought us last year’s ‘it’ flick Juno, have optioned the Carolyn Parkhurst novel and tapped Irish stage and screen director John Crowley to helm the project.

Crowley made a splash with his debut film Intermission, the minor Danny Boyle riff featuring an Emerald Isle who’s who cast including Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy, and Kelly Macdonald. His latest, the Jonathan Trigwell adaptation Boy A, had its U.S. premiere at Tribeca back in April to mixed reviews, though it did pick up a Jury Award at the Berlinale. Given his darkly comic style, it’s not hard to see what kind of tone they’ll be attempting with Dogs. Interestingly, the project was originally set up at Focus with Todd “still riding that Old School wave” Phillips set to direct which, one assumes, would have taken on a broader comedy form.

Jamie Linden, who penned the saccharin We Are Marshall, is adapting Parkhurst’s words to the screen with Mandate, Heyday Films, and Sekretagent Prods. all in the producing mix. No word on when the film will start lensing. Linden is still churning out a final draft of Dear John for Lasse Hallstrom while Crowley is in post on Is There Anybody There? with Michael Caine. He’s also attached to the Cate Blanchett comedy The Dangerous Husband for Working Title and Universal, so there’s no telling what will go first.