Stephen Fry will bring his novel, The Liar to the big screen with himself in a starring role, Screen International reports. One of Britain’s most beloved comedians, Fry wrote The Liar in 1991 and will executive produce the big-screen adaptation.
The titular “liar” is Adrian Healey, who narrates the book and is responsible for several erroneous passages in it — we learn that he’s lying to the reader as well as other characters. It’s a tale of the unrequited love of his life and meanders from his days in public school through his life as an adult. Fry will play Healey’s uncle, while Skins star Nicholas Hoult will lie in the lead. Sir Ian McKellen will also star.
The film is being produced and directed by newcomer Tony Hagger, who told Screen that he expected to work with a budget of between $5.4 and 7.7m and shoot on location in the UK and Austria. The screenplay is being written by Zac Case, known for his work on US comedies Head Case and Scrubs.
Fry is a popular author of four novels and several non-fiction books and an autobiography, and as an actor he’s taken roles in films such as Stormbreaker, V or Vendetta and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He’ll play the Cheshire Cat in Tim Burton’s upcoming adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. The Liar will be the first big-screen adaptation of one of his books.
