LATEST NEWS

Martin Hynes Adapting Kate DiCamillo's Magician's Elephant

by Alex Billington
August 17, 2009

Fox is adapting Kate DiCamillo's new children's book "The Magician's Elephant" and has hired Martin Hynes to write and direct. Hynes's first feature film was The Go-Getter, an indie road trip flick that debuted at Sundance a few years ago. Although I absolutely loved the film (read my old review), it sadly never got picked up, and barely made it out on DVD late last year. The story in "The Magician's Elephant" centers on "impossible things that may happen" when a fortune teller tells an orphan boy that an elephant will lead him to his long-lost sister. Kate DiCamillo's other novel "The Tale of Despereaux" was just adapted last year.

Plot synopsis Amazon: When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it's true.

"What attracted me to the project was that Fox wanted to make a fable which could both be a classic but not take itself too seriously," Hynes told Variety. "The film we've referenced in terms of tone is The Princess Bride -- something that kids will enjoy, but adults will love on other levels." I think Hynes definitely has the talent to pull something like that off. Most people aren't familiar with his work, which is unfortunate, but I've been waiting to see more from him ever since I first saw The Go-Getter. And now this sounds like a wonderful story that will make for a great film. Hopefully it doesn't take long for it to head into production.

Tweet Pin It

Related categories: Movie News, Opinions