Marc Turtletaub to Adapt Bestseller 'Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt' as Next Feature
Marc Turtletaub will direct a feature adaptation of Ben Reeves' debut novel Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, with Oren Moverman writing the screenplay, Deadline reported on 13 August 2026. Turtletaub revealed the plans in an interview with the trade ahead of a trip to Edinburgh, where his latest film, Borges and Me, debuts at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Saturday, 15 August.
The novel landed on the New York Times Bestsellers List in its first week on sale. Published by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, it tells the story of Travis, a man who lives with his cat in a small grey town and offers comfort to people in their final hours of life. His routine shifts when he meets Dalia, a midwife, and her eight-year-old daughter Layla, who live across the hall. Reeves' hardcover runs 256 pages and retails for $28 (Publishers Weekly).
Turtletaub said the adaptation will be shot in the UK. The project reunites him with Moverman, a creative partnership that stretches back to the 2018 film Puzzle. Moverman wrote that film — itself an adaptation of an Argentinian feature — after producer Wren Arthur brought him on board, as Turtletaub recounted in a MovieMaker interview. Moverman also wrote Borges and Me, Turtletaub's first film as director since Jules (2023).
Borges and Me adapts Jay Parini's New York Times bestselling memoir Borges and Me: An Encounter. It follows a young graduate student at the University of St Andrews on a road trip across the Scottish Highlands with the poet Jorge Luis Borges. The cast is led by Fionn Whitehead and Luis Gnecco, with Scottish actors including Alan Cumming, Freya Mavor, Peter Mullan and Morven Christie rounding out the ensemble. The Edinburgh festival, where the film screens, runs through 19 August.
Turtletaub has run Big Beach as a producer for over two decades, the production company behind films including Little Miss Sunshine and Jules (Big Beach). In 2022, Big Beach closed its New York headquarters, laid off staff and parted ways with principal executive Peter Saraf (Variety). Turtletaub has continued directing, and the Reeves adaptation marks his next step behind the camera.
No production start date, cast or release timeline for Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt has been announced.
