Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari lecturing at the Global Artificial Intelligence Summit Forum in Hangzhou, China, July 9, 2017. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images, via JTA)
Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari’s bestselling book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” will be adapted to the screen by American director Ridley Scott and British documentarian Asif Kapadia, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Harari’s nonfiction book tells the story of human evolution through the three major revolutions, Cognitive, Agricultural and Industrial.
The book, originally published in 2011, was intended as a textbook for his Hebrew University history students, but has since gone on to achieve international success, selling 8 million copies worldwide and now available in 30 languages.
Scott, whose credits include “Alien,” “Gladiator” and “Blade Runner,” will serve as producer on the project. Kapadia, who won an Academy Award for the film “Amy” about Jewish singer Amy Winehouse, will direct.
Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari
The format and platform of the project has not yet been announced.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
“It is a book that changes how you see the world and our adaptation should do the same, to serve as a wake-up call for who we are, where we have come from and where we are heading,” Kapadia said in a statement.
Scott said the project “has all the elements to be massively entertaining as well as historically important.”
Harari said the production will hope “to mix science, fiction, history, drama and genius in order to bring to life the incredible journey of our species, that began as an insignificant animal and is now on the verge of becoming a god.”
Advertisement
Yuval Noah Harari (Courtesy)
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this,please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
