FirstGen, "a production company with credits including Mona Fastvold's recent Searchlight flick The Testament of Ann Lee," is developing a film adaptation of Laura van den Berg's 2018 novel The Third Hotel, Deadline reported. Michelle Garza Cervera (Huesera: The Bone Woman) will direct from a screenplay by Isa Mazzei.
In a statement, Cervera said, "I'm so thrilled to work on an adaptation of such an eerie and brilliant novel alongside Isa Mazzei, whose work I'm a real fan of, and FirstGen, who have made films I love. I'm honored to be part of it."
Mazzei commented: "The book is wonderfully surreal and deeply unsettling in a way that lingered with me. I'm excited to be able to translate that feeling into a cinematic experience, and I feel lucky to be collaborating with such a thoughtful and talented team."
The Third Hotel "follows Clare, a recent widow who travels to Latin America weeks after her husband Richard's mysterious death, driven by the need to understand her role in his early passing.... What begins as a skeptical pursuit of Richard's double quickly devolves into an all-consuming obsession, unraveling Clare's grip on reality and pulling her into a liminal nightmare where she is suspended between the living and the dead," Deadline wrote.