Edgar Wright Teams With Writer Jane Goldman For 'Chain' Thriller

As the world waits to see Edgar Wright’s upcoming psychological terror, “The Last Night in Soho”— delayed into spring 2021 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic—the admired English filmmaker already has a new film on his radar. Wright will be adapting the popular, Amazon book “The Chain,” written by Irish writer Adrian McKinty. With Wright directing and Jane Goldman (“X-Men” and “Kingsmen” series) penning the screenplay, this adaptation of “The Chain” has been acquired by Universal Studios in a big seven-figure deal, with the hope of turning this novel into a cash cow once theaters open again fully over the next couple years.

Though Universal hasn’t given a timetable for the film, it finds Edgar Wright as a filmmaker that audiences and critics admire. After Wright’s “Baby Driver” made a whopping $226 million worldwide with critical acclaim, his appeal to the mass public remains at its peak. Combining Wright with Goldman, who continues to write screenplays that appeal to large audiences herself, “The Chain” will be a crime thriller focused on a kidnapping organization called, you guessed it, The Chain.

Here’s a summary of “The Chain”:

You just dropped off your child at the bus stop. A panicked stranger calls your phone. Your child has been kidnapped, and the stranger explains that their child has also been kidnapped, by a completely different stranger. The only way to get your child back is to kidnap another child within 24 hours. Your child will be released only when the next victim’s parents kidnap yet another child, and most importantly, the stranger explains, if you don’t kidnap a child, or if the next parents don’t kidnap a child, your child will be murdered. You are now part of The Chain.

Wright is also working on an animated film called “Shadows,” which is said to be in post-production with DreamWorks Animation, though the plot is still kept under wraps. Goldman has co-written “Rebecca” from director Ben Wheatley which is in post-production, and looks to be co-writing the pre-production remake of “The Little Mermaid.”

Wright’s “The Last Night in Soho” stars Anya Taylor-Joy (“Emma”) and Thomasin McKenzie (“Jojo Rabbit”) and will currently be released by Universal Pictures and Focus Features on April 23, 2021.