Last month the first pictures emerged of Jason Segel in costume as the late, celebrated American author David Foster Wallace in the upcoming film End of the Road, based on David Lipsky’s 2010 book Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, itself based around a five day road trip Lipsky took with Wallace in 1996 while interviewing him for Rolling Stone. To Wallace’s fans, at least, the photos did not bode well, and it seems Wallace’s family shares that sense of trepidation: they, along with the David Foster Wallace Literary Trust and Wallace’s publishers Little, Brown, have issued a statement outlining their objections to the film.

The statement, published in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, reads:

The David Foster Wallace Literary Trust, David’s family, and David’s longtime publisher Little, Brown and Company wish to make it clear that they have no connection with, and neither endorse nor support ‘The End of the Tour.’ This motion picture is loosely based on transcripts from an interview David consented to eighteen years ago for a magazine article about the publication of his novel, ‘Infinite Jest.’ That article was never published and David would never have agreed that those saved transcripts could later be repurposed as the basis of a movie. The Trust was given no advance notice that this production was underway and, in fact, first heard of it when it was publicly announced. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no circumstance under which the David Foster Wallace Literary Trust would have consented to the adaptation of this interview into a motion picture, and we do not consider it an homage.

The individuals and companies involved with the production were made keenly aware of the substantive reasons for the Trust’s and family’s objections to this project, yet persisted in capitalizing upon a situation that leaves those closest to David unable to prevent the production. The Trust will continue to review its legal options with respect to any commercial exploitation of the motion picture.

Most importantly, The David Foster Wallace Literary Trust and David’s family prefer that David be remembered for his extraordinary writing. The Trust remains open to working with a range of artists who are interested in respectful adaptations, and will vigilantly protect David’s literary and personal legacy.

The objections of Wallace’s family are not unexpected, given the circumstances of his death, the (comparatively) little time that has elapsed since and the regular mischaracterisation of his work over the past six years. The film proceeds regardless.