Elliot Page is planning to bring this acclaimed LGBTQ+ sci-fi story to the big screen
Elliot Page recently used their appearance at the 2024 Juno Awards to call out “devastating” attacks on LGBTQ+ freedom. (Cindy Ord/Getty)
Elliot Page is planning to adapt acclaimed LGBTQ+ young adult sci-fi novel The Darkness Outside Us into a movie, after acquiring the rights to the 2021 book.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Pageboy Productions, Elliot Page’s production company, had optioned Eliot Schrefer’s love story, which is about two boys who are sent on a space mission together.
The young men are from enemy countries, but have to figure out how to work together after they’re sent on a rescue mission. It’s a traditional enemies-to-lovers romance in many ways, but with mystery elements too.
Matt Jordan Smith and Tuck Dowrey are also working with Pageboy Productions to bring the book to life. One review describes it as “heart-wrenching, yet hopeful. Dark, but not entirely without light. Thought-provoking in ways that will probably give you an existential crisis.”
“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 joint 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.”
Author Eliot Schrefer also issued a statement about the partnership with Elliot Page, saying: “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.”
In September 2023, Elliot Page returned to the big screen for the first time since 2017, starring in Close to You, also made by Pageboy Productions. In it, the actor plays trans man Sam, who visits his hometown for the first time since transitioning and is reunited with a childhood friend.
The Oscar-nominated actor previously took a step back from the cinematic limelight as he embarked on his gender transition journey, publicly coming out as a trans man in 2020.
