A report from Collider has recently claimed Ron Howard is in talks to direct a live-action adaptation of The Graveyard Book, a beyond-the-grave story from famed author Neil Gaiman.
The Graveyard Book was picked up almost a year ago by Disney, a move originally intended to reunite director Henry Selick with more material from Neil Gaiman. Selick found success with Coraline, and it only makes sense that the media giants sought to recreate results with another spooky stop-motion animated feature. Unfortunately, that production was halted due to creative differences.
Fortunately, The Graveyard Book has found new life in director Ron Howard. While Howard’s most recent effort, The Dilemma, didn’t quite reach audiences worldwide in terms of quality, his films Angels & Demons, Frost/Nixon, and The Da Vinci Code are looked at as moderate successes in a long line of achievement. Howard is putting the finishing touches on his latest project, Rush, a period Formula 1 piece centered on driver Niki Lauda. It’ll be interesting to see if The Graveyard Book is next in line.
The Graveyard Book won both the Carnegie and Newbery medals, the first time a children’s story has achieved such an honor. Author Neil Gaiman claims it’s inspired by The Jungle Book, a favorite amongst novel purists and children alike. Check out the synopsis below:
“It takes a graveyard to raise a child. Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family.”
There’s no doubting Ron Howard’s film knowledge and ability, so it’ll be interesting to see how negotiations between the famed director and Disney manage to pan out — if they do pan out. We’ll be sure to keep you updated about The Graveyard Book as more information is released.
