The End of the World Running Club to Be Adapted Into Feature Film

Candr Pictures has optioned the screen rights to Adrian J. Walker’s post-apocalyptic novel The End of The World Running Club for a feature film adaptation. Chris Reading, known for the comedy sci-fi film Time Travel Is Dangerous, will write and direct the project, while Walker will serve as executive producer.

The novel is set in the aftermath of catastrophic asteroid strikes across Europe. Its story follows Edinburgh father Ed, who sets out on a desperate 500-mile journey on foot in an effort to reach his family before the last evacuation ships depart Britain’s shores. The book was published by Penguin Random House UK and has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Czech and Turkish.

Walker said he was thrilled that Candr Pictures would adapt the novel, praising Reading’s blend of dark humour, sci-fi and humanity as a strong fit for the material. He said readers from around the world continue to tell him how much the book has moved them, and that he looks forward to seeing Ed’s journey brought to life on screen.

Reading said British apocalypse stories are rare, adding that Walker’s novel has the chaos, unusual characters and gallows humour that make the genre distinctive. He described the story as centering on a simple emotional premise: one man trying to get back to his family. Reading said he wants to create an adaptation that fans of the book will recognize and embrace, while also bringing his own sense of fun, irreverence and dark comedy to the film.

The project adds to Candr Pictures’ slate of adaptations and positions The End of The World Running Club as a new British survival drama with strong genre elements.