Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has signed on to adapt The Knife of Never Letting Go for Lionsgate. The book is the first in author Patrick Ness' Chaos Walking trilogy, which the studio is eyeing as a possible franchise.

The story is set in a future where humans are trying to colonize a planet similar to Earth. A bizarre infection known as The Noise spreads throughout the planet, which makes all human thought audible. When a corrupt dictator threatens to take control of civilization, a young boy named Todd Hewitt is the only one who can prevent the planet's complete devastation.

Doug Davison will produce the adaptation for Quadrant Pictures, with Alli Shearmur expected to produce as well. No production schedule was given for this adaptation.

Charlie Kaufman previously adapted the books Confessions of a Dangerous Mind by Chuck Barris and Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief, which became the Oscar-nominated drama Adaptation.