Director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible) has been tapped to adapt Patrick Ness’ children’s fantasy novel A Monster Calls, which came from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd. The story follows a thirteen year old boy name Conor, who wakes up to find a monster lurking outside his bedroom window. The monster isn’t a fruit of his imagination or due to stress, but something much more dangerous.
A Monster Calls is set to open on
the Fall of 2016.
Press Release:
Acclaimed Filmmaker Juan Antonio
Bayona to Direct Adaptation of A Monster Calls
Focus Features to Distribute
Domestically, Lionsgate to Sell Internationally, Film to be Co-financed by
Participant Media and River Road Entertainment
SANTA MONICA and LOS ANGELES, CA,
March 5, 2014—River Road Entertainment, Participant Media, Lionsgate
International, and Focus Features have teamed to finance and distribute
Apache’s production of acclaimed filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona’s next film, A
Monster Calls, based on the award-winning children’s fantasy novel by Patrick
Ness (the Chaos Walking trilogy), the companies announced today. The film will be produced by Belen Atienza
(The Impossible, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Orphanage) and is slated for a fall 2016
release. It will be distributed by Focus
Features domestically, Universal Pictures International for its theatrical and
home entertainment release in Spain and Lionsgate International throughout the
rest of the world.
Bayona won Spain’s equivalent of
the Academy Award, The Goya, for his last film, The Impossible, which was
distributed by Lionsgate’s Summit label and grossed more than $180 million at
the worldwide box office. The Impossible
is the second highest-grossing film of all time in Spain.
A Monster Calls is a visually
spectacular drama about a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother’s
illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world
of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith. Ness wrote the novel based on an original
idea by the late Siobhan Dowd, and he and illustrator Jim Kay won Britain’s
prestigious Carnegie Medal and Greenaway Medal in 2012, presented to the year’s
best children’s literature in the UK.
Ness is adapting the screenplay from his novel. Executive Producers on the film are River
Road’s Bill Pohlad and Mitch Horwits, Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan
King, and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairman Patrick Wachsberger.
“It is an incredible privilege to
bring Patrick Ness’ exceptional book to the screen and I couldn’t have imagined
better partners joining me in this endeavor. After The Orphanage and The
Impossible, A Monster Calls is the perfect final chapter in a trilogy centered
on the extraordinary strength of the mother-child bond,” said Bayona.
“We’re pleased to join with our
friends at Participant, River Road and Focus Features in financing and
distributing this cherished and compelling property that has already earned a
tremendous following in the world of children’s literature,” said
Wachsberger. “We’re delighted to reunite
with the creative forces behind our worldwide hit The Impossible, and there is
nobody better suited to creating the fantastical world of A Monster Calls than
the visionary filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona.”
River Road Entertainment’s
Founder and CEO Bill Pohlad added, “River Road has collaborated to great
success with Participant, Lionsgate International and Focus Features on several
films, and we look forward to uniting for this distinguished project, which is
in line with our effort to support captivating storytelling and incredibly
talented filmmakers, like Juan Antonio Bayona.”
Participant’s EVP of Production
Jonathan King said, “All of us at Participant are thrilled to be in such good
company for this deeply moving tale about the power of storytelling, which
could not be more perfectly aligned with our mission.”
Focus Features CEO Peter
Schlessel continued, “Juan Antonio Bayona is a filmmaker whose storytelling
skills and stunning visuals are truly distinctive. He captures emotional truths amidst
fantastical and terrifying situations, making him the ideal director to bring
this acclaimed novel to a wide audience.
I am pleased to make this our first co-production as CEO of Focus
Features.”
The deal was negotiated by
Participant Media COO Jeff Ivers, River Road’s Mitch Horwits, Lionsgate’s
Patrick Wachsberger, and Focus Features’ Peter Schlessel with CAA. Bayona
is represented by CAA.
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