The Ink Factory has optioned Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain and has lined up Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy [pictured] to adapt the screenplay.

The feature is being developed with Film4.

The book, shortlisted for the national book awards in the US (where it is published by HarperCollins’ Ecco) and the UK (Canongate), is about a 19-year-old Texas native and his fellow soldiers who become media heroes after a tour of duty in Iraq.

Producers will be Ink Factory’s Simon Cornwell, Stephen Cornwell and Rhodri Thomas.

The Ink Factory is currently in production on Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man.

Beaufoy’s credits include Slumdog Millionaire and The Full Monty.