An independent film adaptation of the novel, starring Maxwell Beer as Jeremy Fink and Ryan Simpkins as Lizzy Muldoun, was released in 2012.

Inside the package, they discover a wooden box with four keyholes and the words, "THE MEANING OF LIFE: FOR JEREMY FINK TO OPEN ON HIS 13TH BIRTHDAY."

The two friends set a goal to find the keys by the end of the summer so Jeremy can still open the box on his thirteenth birthday.

While doing community service they must find all of the keys they can, continuously worrying about the performance they must do at a fair due to losing a bet to Jeremy's grandmother.

Tamar Halpern wrote and directed the screenplay, and the film starred Mira Sorvino, Joe Pantoliano, Maxwell Beer and Ryan Simpkins as the eponymous Jeremy Fink and his best friend, Lizzy Muldoun.