Filmmaker Paul Greengrass is set to adapt George Orwell’s tour de force novel 1984 on the big screen, the Guardian reported. Most renowned for his Bourne film series, Greengrass will lend his take on the Newspeak-speaking dystopian world weaved by Orwell in 1949.
The latest adaptation of the novel will be produced by Sony Pictures. The production company has already roped in screenwriter James Graham to write the screenplay of the film, which Hollywood producers had been planning on adapting for quite some time.
George Orwell
The novel has previously been adapted as a film, most notably in 1956 and then, in 1984. The film made in 1984 starred John Hurt as the protagonist Winston Smith and is also known for being Richard Burton’s final on-screen appearance.
1984 features three superpowers are engaged in war with one another for several years without the slimmest hope of achieving victory. The book centralises the superstate Oceania amid omnipresent 
government surveillance and public manipulation, run under the political system of English Socialism.
Helmed by privileged Inner Party elite, the system persecutes all independent-thinking individuals for ‘thoughtcrimes’. The tyranny is epitomised by Big Brother, the quasi-divine Party leader, who, despite being feared, may not even exist.
The book also explores themes, such as mass media as a catalyst for the intensification of destructive emotions and violence. Since the 20th century, news and other forms of media have been publicising violence more, according to the Huffington Post.
Also referred to as Orwell’s magnum opus, 1984 has inspired notable literature, such as The Hunger Games and Alan Moore’s graphic novel V for Vendetta. Even reality television show Big Brother is partly inspired by Orwell’s novel.
Greengrass recently announced his return to the Bourne film series with Matt Damon reprising the titular role of the rogue agent, Jason Bourne. He last directed the action-thriller Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks, which is based on Captain Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty’s book titled A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy Seals, and Dangerous Days at Sea.
He is also credited with adapting JM Barrie’s biopic Finding Neverland as a stage musical. Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum are two of the most popular instalments of his Bourne series.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2014.
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