A cinematic adaptation of The Graveyard Book has been languishing in development purgatory for more than a decade. Neil Gaiman’s award-winning children’s novel will be adapted by Marc Forster and produced by Forster and Renée Wolfe under their 2Dux2 label, according to Deadline. Mary Poppins Returns, The Little Mermaid, and Netflix’s School for Good and Evil are among David Magee’s previous credits as a screenwriter. When it comes to adapting children’s literature, Forster has a long history of success. In 2004, he directed the film Finding Neverland, in which Johnny Depp portrayed J.M. Barrie, the playwright and creator of the Peter Pan stories.
Prior to Christopher Robin, Forster collaborated with Disney on a live-action adaptation of the Winnie the Pooh story starring Ewan McGregor as Christopher Robin, which was released in 2018. Other important projects include Stranger Than Fiction, World War Z, and Quantum of Solace. Forster is now working on a live-action/animated hybrid based on the iconic ‘Thomas & Friends’ toy line in addition to post-production work on Tom Hanks’ A Man Called Otto and the Wonder sequel White Bird. There have been numerous stages in the production of The Graveyard Book’s cinematic adaptation.
As originally conceived by Neil Jordan and sold to Walt Disney Pictures in 2010, the movie will be directed by Henry Selick, who previously worked with Neil Gaiman’s material on the 2009 film, Coraline. The rights to the project were acquired by Walt Disney Pictures in 2011. There was a live-action movie in the works for Ron Howard to film with a story written by Rowan Joffe, but that too fell through. Mowgli-like protagonist Bod is raised in a graveyard by ghosts after his parents’ deaths in The Graveyard Book, an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
Since its debut in 2009, it has earned several prizes, including the prestigious Newberry Medal. Author Neil Gaiman has amassed an impressive body of work as a novelist, short story writer, and creator of graphic novels. American Gods, Good Omens, and Netflix’s impending The Sandman are just a few of the numerous adaptations of his novels and comics that have appeared on the big screen. At this point, it’s not certain if The Graveyard Book will be released theatrically, or if it will instead be released on Disney+ like other previous children’s book adaptations.