Cate Blanchett will make her debut as a director on a dark thriller based on Herman Koch's bestselling 2009 novel, The Dinner, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Blanchett, currently riding high on the back of rave reviews for her barnstorming performance in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, will work from a screenplay adapted by Oren Moverman (Rampart, The Messenger). Koch's book has been compared to Lionel Shriver's novel We Need to Talk About Kevin, itself the basis for a critically-acclaimed 2011 film by Lynne Ramsay.
Described as a novel which explores how far people will go to protect their children, The Dinner tells the story of two middle class families, each with a 15-year-old son caught up in the brutal murder of a homeless woman whose death was captured on mobile phones. Koch's book has been translated into 21 languages from the original Dutch.
It is not clear whether Blanchett will also take a starring role in The Dinner. The Australian actor has previously limited her directing work to the stage: she spent five years as co-artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company alongside her playwright husband Andrew Upton before stepping down in December 2012.
