Warner Independent Taps Alvart for ‘Zero’

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, speculation and innuendo reigned. Some of those theories made into the realm of the tome. Jess Walter’s satirical political tale The Zero won critical acclaim when it hit the bookshelves, and now Warner Independent has tapped German director Christian Alvart to bring the tale to the big screen.

The tale focuses on Brian Remy, a New York City police officer who shoots himself in the head a week after 9/11 – though the book never specifically mentions the terrorist attack, and Walter’s deletion of a single word in the title gives new identity to his tale. Following the shooting Remy suffers strange bouts of memory loss, even forgetting the entire shooting incident. It is during one of these bouts that the Office of Liberty and Recovery recruit him to sift through the thousands of scraps of paper strewn across New York when the towers fell. Remy finds himself in a cross-country pursuit of a mysterious woman for reasons he can’t even remember.

 Warner Independent seems to be hoping that Alvart can bring to the project a fresh perspective, untarnished by the political climate of the country. Alvart’s most recent project, the Renee’ Zellwiger thriller Case 39 is set to pop in August. The German helmer has also found success with Antikorper (Antibodies) and Curiosity & the Cat, both of which he penned as well. Production duties are to be handled by John Wells and Jason Bloom. No production date has yet been announced.