In December, filmmaker Daniel Brown announced that he’s working on writing—and eventually directing—an adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel “Survivor.” 

The book is about a man named Tender Branson who finds himself the sole survivor on a still-airborne hijacked plane after the fellow members of a cult carry out a mass suicide. Brown, who previously directed “Your Lucky Day” starring Angus Cloud, said one of the first short films he ever wrote was based on a chapter of “Survivor.”

It’s far from the first attempt to adapt this novel, which has been in development hell for more than two decades. It’s a common scenario for Palahniuk’s novels. 

He’s written about two dozen books in the past 30 years, two of which have been adapted to film—“Fight Club” in 1999 and “Choke” in 2008. Another seven have been optioned or partially developed only to languish and never come to fruition. Will “Survivor” break the pattern? 

‘Fight Club’

Palahniuk’s first novel, written in 1996, turned out to be his first book to make it to film. It’s also probably the one project he’s best known for, in part thanks to the 1999 film “Fight Club” directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. 

It was nominated for a handful of awards—including the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing—but lost most of them. Still, it secured itself a spot into the public consciousness of American pop culture. I mean, who doesn’t know the first rule of Fight Club at this point? 

‘Choke’

One might think that the relative success of “Fight Club” might spur even more adaptations of Palahniuk’s work, but there’s been only one other, 2008’s “Choke.” Based on the 2001 book of the same name, it stars Sam Rockwell as a reenactor at a Colonial theme park who, in his spare time, fakes choking in fancy restaurants to get money to help tend to his ailing mother, played by Anjelica Huston. 

“Choke” was not quite as successful as “Fight Club,” earning no major award nominations and receiving lukewarm reviews. 

‘Survivor’

Before Brown began working on a script for “Survivor,” the would-be film had quite the life being passed among various filmmakers and studios. In a 2008 Q&A, Palahniuk said 20th Century Fox was the first to option the book in 1999 with a screenplay written by Jake Paltrow. The project was quashed a couple years later after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks derailed many terror-related films and television shows. 

After Paltrow, Francis Lawrence (“I Am Legend”) claimed the rights to the story and tried his hand at writing a screenplay, but that project also never got off the ground. In an interview with Film School Rejects in 2011, Lawrence said he struggled to find the right narrative tone to turn Palahniuk’s non-narrative book into a feature film. 

‘Invisible Monsters’

“Invisible Monsters” is a story told by a former model who is now disfigured about her life, her friendship with a transgender woman named Brandy and fellow model Evie. It was originally supposed to be Palahniuk’s first published novel, but publishers passed on the manuscript until 1999, after the success of “Fight Club” and “Survivor.”

MacLaren Productions initially bought the rights to the book in 2009, but plans for the project fizzled. The most recent update in 2019 has Fabrik Entertainment working on an adaptation with “Outlander” writer Jennifer Yale penning the script. 

‘Haunted’

Palahniuk’s 2005 collection of short stories “Haunted” was first optioned to be adapted in 2008 by New School Media production company. Filmmaker Koen Mortimer (“Skunk”) was set to write the screenplay and direct. Plans for the film, though, fell apart after Mortimer and the production company failed to see eye-to-eye on the creative process. 

The collection follows a group of 17 writers who somehow find themselves locked in a theater, forced to stay there for three months to write their masterpieces. The plot devolves into a reality show-like game of survival. 

‘Lullaby’

Palahniuk, himself, was expected to be heavily involved in the adaptation of his 2002 novel “Lullaby.” In 2016, it was announced that he would co-write the screenplay and co-executive produce the film alongside would-be director Andy Mingo. The duo, along with producer Josh Leake, launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project, nearly doubling the $250,000 sought. 

It’s unclear where the adaptation stands now, but the last update on the project’s Instagram page was in 2021. 

‘Rant’

In 2014, Palahniuk and actor James Franco announced the latter had optioned the 2007 book “Rant.” The story is basically a biography of the deceased central character, Buster “Rant” Casey, told from the perspectives of the people who knew him. Filmmaker Pamela Romanowsky told IndieWire in 2015 that she had been tapped to direct the film. 

She explained to Deepest Dream in 2016 that adapting “Rant” was proving to be difficult due to Palahniuk’s style.

“I’m working on an adaptation of ‘Rant’ by Chuck Palahniuk that doesn’t have a clear, present-tense narrative, and it’s all about fractured time and compression,” she said. “It’s a tough adaptation, and I’m enjoying it, but it’s certainly not an easy task.”

There have been no updates on the project since then. 

‘Snuff’

Palahniuk’s 2008 book “Snuff” has been the subject of a couple different attempts to adapt it, neither of which came to fruition. It tells the story of a former porn actress who is attempting to film herself having sex with hundreds of men. The story is told from the perspective of three of the men, known only by their numbers in line, and their female wrangler. 

Fabien Martorell twice optioned the rights to the story, planning to make a film version, but he let the rights expire, LostMediaWiki reported. In 2016, Palahniuk announced “Snuff” was being developed into a television series, but there have been no further announcements. 

‘Diary’

There’s not much official information out there about a potential adaptation of this 2003 horror novel, but Palahniuk posted on his website in 2004 that the producers of “American Beauty”—presumably Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen—had purchased the rights. There have been no updates since. 

“Diary” tells the story of an artist whose husband attempts to kill himself only to end up in a coma. After marrying, they had moved to an island where she soon learns she’s in the middle of a repeating legend wherein the islanders lure and trap an artist to the island once every four generations to live off the success of their creativity. 

It seems like adaptations of Palahniuk’s stories are frequently caught in development limbo, presumably for the very reason so many people love him as a writer. His writing is bold, unorthodox, dark and confrontational. They’re not easy stories. So maybe the process of adapting them to the screen isn’t so easy, either. 

What Palahniuk book do you look forward to seeing on the screen?

About the writer

Danielle Haynes is the co-founder and co-editor of Booked & Screened, covering book-to-screen adaptations, film and TV development.