Smashed Director James Ponsoldt To Tackle Post-Apocalyptic Teen Drama Pure
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Up to this point in his career, director James Ponsoldt is primarily known for indie dramas like last year’s Smashed and the upcoming Spectacular Now. Ponsoldt is now set to step up to the major leagues with his first studio picture for Fox 2000, an adaptation of Julianna Baggott’s post-apocalyptic young adult novel Pure.
Pure is the first installment of a purported trilogy of books set in a dystopian future. The story is situated in a post-apocalyptic world, one divided into two drastically different classes. First are the Pures. They survived the end of the world happy, healthy, and still pretty. However, they do have to live under a protective dome. On the other side of the proverbial tracks you have the Wretches. While they, too, survived the destruction, they’re a battered, ugly, broken people who exist in the ruins of the old world.
Given these two opposing societies, it’s bad news when a young Wretch named Pressia joins forces with a young Pure, who just so happens to be the son of their leader. There is a definite star-crossed lovers/Romeo and Juliet element to the plot.
Pure is another in an ever-increasing line of potential teen franchises looking to fill the space left vacant when Twilight and Harry Potter wrapped up their epic runs. It’ll have its hands full competing against other upcoming adaptations like Warm Bodies, Beautiful Creatures, and Divergent. The last item on this list is another futuristic, dystopian tale, one that also stars Spectacular Now lead Shailene Woodley.
When Spectacular Now debuts at Sundance, it will be Ponsoldt’s third straight feature to follow that particular path. It will be interesting to see how he performs in his new digs, working in an unfamiliar genre, under the watchful eye of a studio.
