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Ron Howard Could Be Digging Into Neil Gaiman's 'The Graveyard Book'
Neil Gaiman is a fascinating artist, a writer of immense talent and unparallelled imagination. His work has already been adapted for the screen several times to varying degrees of success. The best effort so far, in my opinion, was 2009's 'Coraline,' which was directed by Henry Selick. Selick was actually subsequently tapped to direct a film based on Gaiman's 'The Graveyard Book,' but the project fell through due to scheduling conflicts. 'The Graveyard Book' centers on a young boy who, after the deaths of his parents, is raised by ghosts in a cemetery. When the boy becomes a teenager, he is pursued again by The Man Jack, his family's killer. Now it seems a second attempt at a live-action film version of 'The Graveyard Book' is being put together, and Ron Howard is in negotiations to direct. Howard also recently teamed up with J.J. Abrams, as the two are planning to bring to the screen the American version of an Israeli made-for-TV movie called 'All I Got.'
I'll admit to never having read 'The Graveyard Book,' but based on the synopsis alone I am very interested. The idea of a child raised by ghosts and having to contend with his family's murderer as a teenager is quite intriguing. The movie could end up being a weird and wonderful amalgam of 'ParaNorman' and 'Harry Potter.' I was impressed to learn that 'The Graveyard Book' is the only piece of children's literature to ever win both the Carnegie and Newbery Medals. Ron Howard is a solid choice to direct this, but I wouldn't necessarily say that this represents a trade-up for the project. Henry Selick is a guy who, for my money, has proven to have sensibilities that perfectly align with those of Gaiman, and I can imagine he would've done a dynamite job with this adaptation as well. I also, and again this is just based on the description, wonder if Brad Silberling (of the woefully underrated 'Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events') would have been an apt choice to take over directing duties. My hope is that Ron Howard's interest in this project is a function of a pronounced interest in the material.
What do you guys think? Is Ron Howard the right choice to direct 'Graveyard Boy?' If not, who would you have chosen?
Source: GeekTyrant
Views: 886
Tags: Gaiman, Graveyard Boy, Howard, Neil, Ron, adaptation, book, children's, direct, negotiations
Comment
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Comment by Grace Molloy on January 25, 2013 at 10:04am -
TGB is one of my FAV Neil Gaiman books so I'm totally stoked for this to get made. Stop motion/Live action, I don't care; and Ron Howard oh hell yes please.
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Comment by Chadwick Candle on January 25, 2013 at 8:00am -
80's/ 90's Tim Burton. OHH! Or Guillermo del Toro! Yes! del Torro! All day!
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Comment by ghostwriter on January 25, 2013 at 6:34am -
Sounds promising...I loved Coraline.
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Comment by Joe Cool on January 25, 2013 at 12:13am -
I have this book (along with many Gaiman novels) but haven't read it yet. Heard it's great though. I agree that "Coraline" is perhaps the best/most successful adaption of a Gaiman work, but I loved "Stardust" very much too, though there was a great many changes made to it (mostly, for the better).
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Comment by Maciek of Poland on January 24, 2013 at 4:44pm -
Just get Tim Burton...
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Comment by Composite Who Horrible on January 24, 2013 at 3:43pm -
Oh... I'm not sure I'm ok with this. The only thing I can think of when it comes to Ron Howard children films is whimsy to the point of attention grabbing "look, look look! See this thing! See this cool thing!". The Graveyard Book is really subtle and even to a certain degree, depressing look at a human boy living amongst the dead, ala Jungle Book. Each story point follows a different part of his life as he grows into an adult. Even when Selick was attached I didn't like the idea. I fear this would only lead to wackyness. Honestly after watching Hugo, I can see Martin Scosese as having the closest directing style to how Graveyard Book is suppose to play out. Charming and light-hearted but never slapstick goofy.
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