Wechsler, One weld 'Word'

Producer to develop debut novel for screen

By DAVE MCNARY

Independent producer Nick Wechsler ("North Country") has launched development of Bruce Bauman's debut novel "And the Word Was" with Volume One's Gina Resnick and Dean Leavitt.

Story's centered on a grief-stricken emergency room physician who leaves New York for India after the death of his son in a Columbine-like massacre and searches for life's meaning amid the poverty of New Delhi.

Wechsler's currently producing "Reservation Road" for Focus, with Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo starring for director Terry George in an adaptation of the John Burnham Schwartz novel. The film, which also involves the death of a son, just wrapped.

Resnick and Leavitt are exec producing "Reservation Road," which also stars Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino.

"I didn't think I would be drawn to a similarly tragic story, but Bauman's book is so rich in detail and feeling," Wechsler said. "So we're optimistic that we'll be able to attract great talent."