‘The Girl on the Train’ Adaptation Gets a Little ‘Help’ From Director Tate Taylor

The Girl on the Train, like The Goldfinch, has the potential to move from the New York Times best-sellers list to the box office top 10. Dreamworks optioned the rights to Paula Hawkins’ debut novel last year before the book even hit the stands, which should tell you that the adaptation of The Girl on the Train could be as big of a hit in theaters as its source material is on shelves.

Variety reports that Tate Taylor, director of the Oscar-nominated film The Help, has been tapped to direct a big screen version of Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train. Erin Cressida Wilson (Men, Women and Children) is writing the screenplay for the adaptation, which centers on a recently divorced, depressed woman, who takes the train to and from work every day. During her commute, she comes up with elaborate fantasies about the charming couple living in a house she passes every day — but when she bears witness to a shocking event, the woman finds herself caught up in a potentially dangerous mystery.

Taylor previously wrote and directed The Help, which itself is also an adaptation of an acclaimed, best-selling novel, proving Taylor’s skill in translating story from book to screen. He also wrote and directed the James Brown biopic Get on Up, starring Chadwick Boseman as the late soul singer.

There’s no word yet on when we might see the film version of The Girl on the Train, but there’s plenty of time for you to pick up a copy of this wildly popular novel and see what all the fuss is about — that way you can be one of those people who gets to say, “I thought the book was better.”