EXCLUSIVE: The next novel from Warm Bodies author Isaac Marion is to be adapted into a feature film.
Rights to Marion’s upcoming book The Overnoise has been snapped up by Nine Perfect Strangers maker Made Up Stories, whose bosses Bruna Papandrea and Steve Hutensky will produce alongside Jeanne Snow and Claudia Park.
Per the synopsis, “The Overnoise follows aspiring musician Robin Conway, who simply wants to complete her new album and maintain her record deal. Everything changes with the launch of ‘Infinite Connection’ – a revolutionary global wireless service promising seamless connectivity worldwide. However, the technology brings an unexpected and disturbing consequence: a persistent dissonant hum known as the ‘overnoise.’”
This is the second collab between Isaac and Papandrea, following the feature film adaptation of Warm Bodies, the New York Times bestseller, in 2013. The zombie comedy-romance, directed by Jonathan Levine, starred Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco and John Malkovich among others.
“Making a ‘zombie romance’ work on screen was an absurdly tall order, but Bruna sank her teeth into it and created a genuine classic,” said Marion. “She’s never been afraid to tackle unusual stories with unique and exciting challenges, so I’m thrilled to be working with her again to bring The Overnoise to life.”
Marion is known for the four-volume Warm Bodies series, first published in 2010, but also operates a YouTube channel. He lives in a remote cabin in the Washington wilderness, sharing stories about his life on the channel, Outer Edge Outpost, which currently has around 20,000 subscribers.
“We knew The Overnoise was special from the first page,” added Made Up Stories in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with Isaac again on this brilliant, emotionally resonant story about the cost of progress and the value of human connection. We can’t wait to bring this powerful narrative to the screen.”
Made Up Stories – which has bases in Australia, the U.S. and UK – is beind the likes of Prime Video miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, which was the streamer’s top-performing Australia originally globally, and Tell Me Your Secrets; HBO’s The Undoing; Netflix’s Anatomy of a Scandal, Toni Collette-starrer Pieces of Her and Jessica Knoll novel adaptation Luckiest Girl Alive; Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers; Australian crime feature The Dry, starring Eric Bana, and its sequel, Force of Nature: Dry 2; Penguin Bloom, starring Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln and Jacki Weaver; Binge comedy Strife; Apple TV+ anthology series Roar; genre-bending rom-com series Wolf Like Me for Peacock and Stan; unscripted series Undressed for Paramount+; and, most recently, another Liane Moriarty adaptation, The Last Anniversary for AMC+ and Foxtel/Binge. Seasons 2 of Strife and Nine Perfect Strangers launch mid-2025.
Over the past year, we’ve revealed the news Made Up Stories has optioned rights to Zoe Foster Blake’s novel Things Will Calm Down Soon, Sally Hepworth’s crime thriller Darling Girls for TV and Emily Perkins’ hot novel Lioness, which is being adapted alongside The Mentalist actor Simon Baker and agent-producer Lee-Ann Higgins. Also on the slate is a film version of Fiona McIntosh’s book The Pearl Thief, with Nick Drake attached to write.
Made Up Stories co-founder Papandrea also made HBO’s Big Little Lies while running Pacific Standard with Reese Witherspoon.
Marion is repped by Joe Regal at Regal Hoffmann & Associates, who negotiated the Overnoise deal with Tim Schmidt representing Made Up Stories.
