Netflix is adapting Gary Paulsen’s 1987 survival novel Hatchet, after years in which the book was unavailable for film adaptation. The project is being developed in partnership with Paulsen’s estate, which helped choose Derek Cianfrance to write and direct the film.
The estate had kept the book off the adaptation market until now. Cianfrance previously directed Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Roofman. Andrew Mittman will produce the movie through his company, 1.21, which is behind Netflix’s Wednesday.
Mittman pushed Netflix to take on the project after the streamer’s survival films Apex and Thrash each debuted with more than 36 million views this year.
The novel follows 13-year-old Brian Robeson, who is stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness after his plane’s pilot suffers a heart attack. Left alone and without food, Brian has only the clothes on his back and a hatchet his mother gave him. He must learn to hunt and build shelter while, in isolation, reflecting on his complicated relationship with his divorced parents.
One scene lingers: Brian finds a dead body partially consumed by fish. The book received the Newbery Honor Award in 1988 for “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” Its first edition is 185 pages, a compact length for a screen adaptation.
Hatchet has had one screen adaptation so far: the 1990 TV movie A Cry in the Wind. Paulsen later wrote four more novels in the series: The River (1991), Brian’s Winter (1996), Brian’s Return (1999), and Brian’s Hunt (2003). Most are sequels; Brian’s Winter takes a “what-if” approach, extending Brian’s initial time alone in the wilderness.
The Netflix film could mean many more kids are likely to have the formative experience of reading Hatchet.
Published Oct 12, 2026, 4:34 PM EDT
