LaBute to adapt 'Burnt Orange Heresy'

Filmmaker re-teaming with Horberg on project

By DAVE MCNARY

Neil LaBute will write and direct an adaptation of "The Burnt Orange Heresy," Charles Willeford's crime novel set in the world of modern art, with William Horberg ("The Kite Runner") producing.

Project re-teams LaBute with Horberg after the duo worked on the remake of "Death at a Funeral."

"We had a great experience making 'Death at a Funeral' together for Screen Gems and were looking for something else to do together," Horberg told Daily Variety. "We discovered that we were both big Willeford fans."

Willeford's novel, set in Palm Beach, centers on a corrupt art critic's attempts to finagle an interview with a legendary but reclusive French painter.

Horberg noted that he was an associate producer on "Miami Blues," another Willeford adaptation, bringing the project to Jonathon Demme and George Armitage at the start of his career. He was an exec producer on "Milk" and is currently exec producing "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" for Miramax.

LaBute's directing credits include "In the Company of Men," "Nurse Betty" and "Lakeview Terrace."

He's repped by ICM.