Screenwriter Zach Helm (Stranger Than Fiction) is set to adapt Patricia Highsmith's novel Deep Water.  Per THR, "The story centers on an upscale suburban husband who, in order to avoid a divorce, allows his wife to have affairs. When the paramours start disappearing, the quiet marriage and community that surrounds it begin to heat up."  Fox 2000 wants to make the film as a "dark, sexy comedy."  The project does not currently have a director.

Highsmith's work is no stranger to Hollywood with her novels Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley both being adapted into critically acclaimed films.  Helm has his work cut out for him if he's trying to make his adaptation measure up to those movies (on the bright side, Deep Water will probably be better than Ripley's Game).  Helm is also writing Errol Morris' Freezing People Is Easy starring Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, and Christopher Walken.  Hit the jump for the synopsis of Highsmith's Deep Water.

Here's the synopsis for Patricia Highsmith's Deep Water:

The great revival of interest in Patricia Highsmith continues with this work that reveals the chilling reality behind the idyllic facade of American suburban life.

In Deep Water, set in the small town of Little Wesley, Vic and Melinda Meller's loveless marriage is held together only by a precarious arrangement whereby in order to avoid the messiness of divorce, Melinda is allowed to take any number of lovers as long as she does not desert her family. Eventually, Vic tries to win her back by asserting himself through a tall tale of murder—one that soon comes true. [Amazon]

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