American producer Uri Singer, who previously took part in the work on the films "The Experimenter" and "Tesla", received the rights to film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Invitation to Execution".

According to Variety, Singer is currently looking for a director for the project.

The novel was written in Russian in the mid-1930s. According to the plot, 30-year-old teacher Cincinnatus C. is sentenced to death for "epistemological vileness" - "opacity" for others. The book tells about the last days of the hero's life, which he spends in prison. There, the man communicates with the director of the institution and his future executioner, who disguises himself as a prisoner. All this time he himself analyzes his own life and reflects on the absurdity of the world around him.

“I am delighted to be able to adapt the Invitation to Execution.

Nabokov once said that of all his books he loves Lolita the most, but that he values ​​the Invitation to Execution the highest.

Nabokov is one of the most famous and infamous writers of the 20th century.

I believe that with the Invitation to Execution, we have an incredible opportunity to bring a unique literary masterpiece to the screen, ”says Uri Singer.

The producer compares his future project with the film "Joker" by Todd Phillips, noting that the opposite situation is presented in the story of Nabokov - "an unremarkable protagonist is surrounded by an illogical world."

"Invitation to Execution" is not the first literary work that Uri Singer plans to film. He previously acquired the rights to adapt Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut, The Oil King: The Secret Life of Mark Rich by Daniel Amman and White Noise by Don DeLillo. The director and screenwriter, Oscar-nominated Noah Baumbak, known for such projects as "The Story of Marriage" and "Sweet Frances", are involved in the work on the latter. Cast - Adam Driver, Jodie Turner-Smith, Greta Gerwig and other actors.

The works of Vladimir Nabokov have been filmed more than once.

Among the most famous paintings from the writer's books is Stanley Kubrick's film "Lolita" in 1962.

It stars James Mason and Sue Lyon.

Nabokov himself participated in the selection of the actress for the role of Lolita.

He also worked on the script for the film.

The film was presented in the main competition of the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for the Oscar and Golden Globe awards.

  • Shot from the film "Lolita"

  • © kinopoisk.ru

The book was filmed again in 1997.

The project is directed by Adrian Lyne (9½ Weeks, Fatal Attraction, Unfaithful, Jacob's Ladder) and starred by Jeremy Irons and Dominic Swain.

Melanie Griffith also starred in the tape.

The film did not have an outstanding festival destiny, but it was popular with a wide audience.

Over the years, Nabokov's works such as "King, Queen, Jack", "Camera Obscura", "Despair", "Mashenka", "Fairy Tale", "Mademoiselle O.", "Luzhin's Defense" and "Event" were also filmed.

In December 2020, it became known about the plans of the American director and screenwriter Scott Frank ("Queen's Move") to release another adaptation of the novel "Camera Obscura".

The tape will be filmed in noir style.

The director plans to make some changes to the plot - if in the original source we are talking about fine art, then Frank's work is a film within a film.

The novel, published in the first half of the 1930s, explores the theme of an adult man's attraction to young girls, which will be developed in Lolita.

The action takes place in 1920s Germany.

According to the plot, the main character, art critic Kretschmar, falls in love with 16-year-old Magda and enters into a romantic relationship with her.

His wife finds out about this, and the family collapses.

Relations with Magda also do not bring happiness to a man - the girl is only interested in the state of Krechmar, and she loves another.

As a result of the accident, the main character loses his sight and, together with Magda, moves to a mansion in the mountains.

Magda's lover lives with them, of whose presence Kretschmar is unaware.

The main role in the film will be played by Anya Taylor-Joy, star of the projects "Split", "Glass", "Queen's Move" and "New Mutants".