Fox Searchlight is developing an adaptation of Wilson, a comic book from Daniel Clowes (Ghost World). The titular character is "an opinionated middle-aged loner who loves his dog and quite possibly no one else."

the project is conceived as a potential directing vehicle for Alexander Payne (Sideways). Payne's next film, The Descendants stars George; it's scheduled for release sometime in 2011.

More, including a synopsis of the comic, after the jump.

This would be the third film adapted from the comics work of Clowes, following Ghost World and Art School Confidential.  Clowes adapted both himself, and I hope Fox Searchlight hires him to do the same for Wilson.  I rather like Ghost World.  And even if Art School Confidential didn't necessarily build on that good will, the film did nothing to erode it.

wilson_comic_book_cover_daniel_clowes

Payne is a good fit, should he sign on.  I can see the shared sensibility between the director and Clowes.  A sort of deadpan melancholy.

According to Deadline, Payne is at least on board as producer, alongside Josh Donen (Drag Me to Hell).

Here's the synopsis for Wilson:

Meet Wilson, an opinionated middle-aged loner who loves his dog and quite possibly no one else. In an ongoing quest to find human connection, he badgers friend and stranger alike into a series of onesided conversations, punctuating his own lofty discursions with a brutally honest, self-negating sense of humor. After his father dies, Wilson, now irrevocably alone, sets out to find his ex-wife with the hope of rekindling their long-dead relationship, and discovers he has a teenage daughter, born after the marriage ended and given up for adoption.Wilson eventually forces all three to reconnect as a family—a doomed mission that will surely, inevitably backfire. [Amazon]