Tom Hardy and Pete Davidson lead a diverse ensemble cast in The Things They Carried

30 years after The Things They Carried was published, the Vietnam War novel is heading to the big screen, with an all-star ensemble cast.

The Things They Carried is one of several projects coming out of the virtual American Film Market, with Tom Hardy and Pete Davidson to lead the cast, according to a report from Deadline.

They are joined by Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One), Stephan James (21 Bridges), Bill Skarsgard (IT), Ashton Sanders (Wu-Tang: An American Saga), Martin Sensmeier (Yellowstone), Moises Arias (The King of Staten Island) and Angus Cloud (Euphoria).

The book was written by Tim O’Brien, largely based on his own experiences as a soldier in the Vietnam War in the 23rd Infantry Division.

The book is told through several separate stories about the men of the fictional Alpha Company, as they traverse from village to village as they struggle to come to grips with why they’re all there in the first place.

The book won the 1990 National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of New York Times’ Book of the Century.

Some of the stories in the book were previously adapted in the 1998 movie A Soldier’s Sweetheart, starring Kiefer Sutherland.

Rupert Sanders (Ghost in the Shell) directs from an adapted screenplay by Scott B. Smith (A Simple Plan), with Hardy also producing with his Hardy Son & Baker partner Dean Baker, alongside David Zander, who had optioned the book and had been developing it for several years.

Production is being eyed to start in early 2021 in Thailand, though there is no indication when it may be released yet.

‘Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is his seminal masterwork – a raw, unflinching, and emotionally truthful literary experience filtered through a kaleidoscope of memory that’s impossible not to be profoundly moved by,” said HSB’s Hardy and Baker in a joint statement.

‘We are all deeply passionate about and honored to have the good fortune of working alongside Tim in bringing his vital classic to screen – and together with our incredible cast, Rupert, Scott, and David – we look forward to creating what we feel will be an important film,’ the statement concluded.

Director Sanders added the book, ‘is a beautifully crafted work and one of the most viscerally evocative books I have ever read.’

‘For me, it transcends its subject of young men at war and explores the landscape of deep human emotions that reside within all of us,’ he added.

‘We live in such turbulent times, and the themes of love, fear, and mortality that Tim explored thirty years ago still resonate today, maybe even more powerfully,’ he added.

‘I am so excited about the cast we have put together – we have not seen this many young stars from different backgrounds sharing the screen since the days of Platoon or The Outsiders,’ the director concluded.