Challenger Deep now acquired by Chernin Entertainment after NBA win

Chernin Entertainment had won the bidding for Challenger Deep, a novel written by Neal Shusterman, for the film rights to the story. The book had just recently won a National Book Award for Young People’s literature, thus the bidding war. And it also has been reported that Shusterman will be adapting the script for the movie as well as co-producing it.

This seems the trend for authors now, in which many are taking on the job of adapting their own book into film, as several have done already. This looks to be Shusterman’s first time, though, and we wish him the best in doing so. Considering that Challenger Deep was a book he was inspired to write because of his own connection to mental illness. It was through his son Brendan’s own struggle with mental illness that Shusterman took to putting ink to paper. Shusterman was able to not only bring to light a very serious topic, but he was also able to present illustrations by Brendan throughout the book.

Now with a National Book Award attached to his name and the opportunity to continue spreading the word about mental illness and schizophrenia among youth through film.

Source: Deadline | The Hollywood Reporter