Elliot Page and The Darkness Outside Us book

Catherine Opie; HarperCollins

The Darkness Outside Us is looking to move from the page to the screen.

Pageboy Productions, the shingle run by Oscar-nominated actor Elliot Page, Matt Jordan Smith and Tuck Dowrey, has optioned the rights to the 2021 YA sci-fi novel.

Author Eliot Schrefer’s The Darkness Outside Us is a love story about two young men from enemy countries put aboard a space craft on a rescue mission. Along the way, they learn they must work together, and that love may be the key to survival.

“We are proud to stand behind Eliot’s remarkable work. The Darkness Outside Us is exactly the type of story we want to champion at PAGEBOY – it’s subversive and deeply human at its core,” said Page, Jordan Smith and Dowrey in a statement. “It’s a complex love story, inventive thriller, and a space epic with twists at every turn. We cannot wait to take the next steps towards getting it on the big screen.”  

Schrefer has a sequel, The Brightness Between Us, due out in October.

“What would I hope for most for my novel? An agile, young, motivated production company that’s buzzy in Hollywood—and that’s just what I got with PAGEBOY Productions. I’m so excited by their vision for The Darkness Outside Us and honored to have the talents of Elliot and Matt and Tuck and the rest of the team devoted to it.”

Page founded Pageboy in 2021, with its titles including the Page starrer Close to You and the Toronto Film Fest title Backspot. Page and Pageboy are repped by UTA, VIE Entertainment, ID Public Relations and Morris Yorn Barnes. Eliot Schrefer is represented by Richard Pine of Inkwell and UTA.