EXCLUSIVE: Participant Media has acquired feature rights to S-Town, the This American Life podcast. Spotlight‘s Tom McCarthy is in negotiations to direct the film and playwright Samuel Hunter is in talks to write the script. This American Life will also produce.

S-Town began as a podcast from Serial and This American Life. Hosted by Brian Reed, the podcast told the story of a man named John who despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it. He asks Brian to investigate the son of a wealthy family who’s allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. But then someone else ends up dead, and the search for the truth leads to a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure, and an unearthing of the mysteries of one man’s life.

Participant currently has RBG in theaters. The documentary chronicling the remarkable life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg quickly emerged as the year’s breakout docu with $9.5 million at the box office so far. Participant follows that with On The Basis of Sex, the Mimi Leder-directed drama about Ginsburg’s formative struggles for equal rights as she ascended to the Supreme Court. Felicity Jones stars as Ginsburg and Focus Features releases November 9.

McCarthy is repped by Gersh; Hunter is with WME. This American Life is repped by UTA.