February 11, 2025: Author Ben Jacoby behind the first harbinger will adapt Thomas Ray’s fascinating novel silencer to Paramount Pictures, as reported in Deadline. The action-packed thriller follows a CIA field agent tasked with bringing in a mysterious CIA target that has been invisible for decades. The target is not a normal surgery, but a “silencer.” This is an individual who can read the mind and erase memories from afar, and is almost impossible to track or capture.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce the film along with a collaboration with Neotext Corporation, the publisher behind Silencer Novella. Russell Ackerman, John Schoenfelder, and Jay Schuminsky will also be produced on behalf of Neotext, with Greg Cohen overseeing the development of Di Bonaventura’s photography. Jacoby, known for his work on Whisperman (Netflix) and First Enthronement, is poised to bring the high stakes thriller the expertise of creating suspenseful, intense stories.
Jacoby collaborated with Chase Palmer to co-author Alex North’s The Whisper Man for Netflix and Agbo adaptation. He also serves as an adaptation for Michael Lewis’ The Big Short Bestseller, part of projects like Flash Boys. Additionally, Jacoby wrote the script to capture the murderer, a crime thriller directed by Damian Sifron, starring Shailene Woodley and Ben Mendelson.
In addition to the silencer, NeoText is busy with other exciting projects. Recently they sold Haven to Sony Pictures, and Carter Blanchard plans to adapt a sci-fi short story. He also sold two projects to Amazon, including an American criminal adaptation directed by Gavin O’Connor and a version of Novella DNA, supported by Simon Kinberg genre films.
With the silencer on the horizon, Jacoby’s thrilling adaptation growth portfolio is set to provide audiences with a blend of mind-bending behavior and psychological suspense.
