Wicked Lovely:
According to Deadline, Melissa Marr ‘s novel has conjured up a second wind- Originally set up at Universal by Wild West Picture Show Productions, the project is now freed up and WWPSP has brought in indie production house Pukeko Pictures to produce and oversee special effects, and Weta Workshop for design and physical effects. They will set a director shortly and then CAA will shop the project. WWPSP’s Vince Vaughn, Valeri Vaughn and Peter Billingsley are producing with Pukeko’s Martin Baynton and Adam Fratto, and Richard Taylor is exec producing.
Chaos Walking:
Great news! Well sorta in the way that “no news is good news”! Even after a year of no word, this one is not dead in the water… yet! Chaos Walking is getting a new writer. These folks said it best: “News about Lionsgate’s Young Adult adaptation Chaos Walking is currently arriving in annual instalments. In mid-2012 we learned that Charlie Kaufman was writing the screenplay, and last September came word that Robert Zemeckis was aboard to direct. This year’s update is that Kaufman’s work has, perhaps unsurprisingly, been deemed not quite the ticket for a would-be franchise (we can only imagine what the writer of Adaptation and Synecdoche, New York did with the material)”. The latest scribe to take a crack at Patrick Ness’ novel will be Jamie Linden. We’ll see…
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children
: Things are moving full steam ahead for MPHPC! Director Tim Burton is staying true to his MO and casting familiar faces for this upcoming quirky project. Latest news is that Eva Green is in negotiations with Fox to work alongside Burton; they previously worked together on the supernatural fantasy “Dark Shadows”. Asa Butterfield is also in talks to star in the film, which would make the fourth bestselling book adaptation for the young star. Right now, no offer has be made, but one is expected to be made soon.
A Monster Calls:
Unlike the majority of movie adaptations we talk about here, Patrick Ness’ award children’s book has been moving at hyper-speed toward the big screen ever since Focus Features bought the rights last March. Latest news has Sigourney Weaver joining Felicity Jones and Liam Neeson on the project under the direction of Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible). The movie is set to hit theaters in North America on Oct. 14, 2016.
Let it Snow:
After this summer’s success of “The Fault in Our Stars”, studios are scooping up John Green’s works right and left, including “Let it Snow” which features short stories from Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. According to Hypable, The book was released in 2008 and features three different but connected stories of teens in a Christmastime blizzard, and the three stories are “tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.”
Soulkeepers:
G.P. Ching’s six-book series has been option by producer Aaron Magnani. According to the Wrap, Heaven and Hell wage a war for human souls. A teenager named Jacob becomes an unlikely hero as he realizes he has the genetic predisposition to be a Soulkeeper — a gifted warrior with the power to protect humans from fallen angels. The only problem is that he’s a hot-headed vandal and a skeptic. It’ll take a beautiful neighbor who’s more than what she seems to teach him the truth about faith, loyalty, love and redemption.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
: For those of us who just can’t wait to see this adaptation come to life, here’s the latest word from the author in an interview with Hypable:
Hypable: Can you give us an update on the Daughter of Smoke and Bone movie? There are some new screenwriters attached, who did The Fault in Our Stars?
Laini Taylor: They did a draft, and I have just done another draft after theirs, which the studio has now. So fingers crossed. There’s been difficulties, it’s just really different. It’s interesting for me, having had the opportunity to re-conceive the story, to tell the same story in a different way. There’s so many layers that are too complex exposition to try and put in a movie. If a version of this screenplay does get made, I feel like it’ll still feel like the same story, but there will obviously be a lot of differences, just things that you can’t fit into an hour and a half movie.
Hypable: Can you talk about any of those changes in particular?
LT: No, I better not. I’m not sure what will happen with the script or where it will go from here. It’s just simplification I guess. I don’t think it would feel very different – it was fun, it was fun to do it. I think if I had tried to do it two years ago it would have been harder. The more I see the process of adaptation, the more I’m able to see the film as its own thing, and what to take from the book to create something new, versus trying to jam the whole book into the film.
Disney’s Live Action: Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast:
After the success of Maleficent earlier this summer, Disney is moving forward with their plan of turning our favorite animated princess movies into live action fairy tales. First, for those who saw Maleficent, you might have noticed the teaser trailer for Cinderella (I’ve included the short clip below). Here’s what know so far: Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the film is set to be released March 13, 2015 and will star Lily James, Cate Blanchett and Richard Madden. Second, Beauty and the Beast is also in the works, which will be directed by Bill Condon. Evan Spiliotopoulos is writing the script with Mandeville Films producing.
Monstrumologist: According to Deadline, Rick Yancey’s 4 book young adult horror series has been optioned by Warner Bros. The first book in the series, Monstrumologist, was published in 2009 and the final book came out last year. The story follows Will Henry, an orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthorpe, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. Jessica Postigo (The Mortal Instruments) has been set to adapt under producers Ellen Goldsmith and Vein Robert Teitel- Eric Robinson and George Tillman Jr will be exec producers.
Maze Runner Sequel- The Scorch Trials:
Upon the decent box office success of The Maze Runner, based on the James Dashner YA trilogy, Fox has announced that it will move forward with a sequel (good news in light of other YA adaptations these days). Wes Ball, who directed the first, will be back alongside star Dylan O’Brien. So far, newcomers will include Aidan Gillen, who plays Game of Thrones character Littlefinger, to play the villain in Scorch Trials.
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