Director Juan Antonio Bayona is ready to answer a monstrous call.
The acclaimed director (“The Impossible,” “The Orphanage”) will helm the upcoming dark fantasy film “A Monster Calls.”
The film will be based on the award-winning children”s book by Patrick Ness (the “Chaos Walking” trilogy).
“Monster” centers on a boy who escapes his dreary home life into a fantasy world populated by monsters and fairy tales creatures.
No casting news has yet been revealed.
Ness and illustrator Jim Kay won the Carnegie Medal and Greenaway Medal in 2012. He will pen the screenplay.
The film will be produced by Belen Atienza (“Pan”s Labyrinth”). River Road Entertainment, Participant Media, Lionsgate International, and Focus Features have teamed to finance and distribute the Apache production. 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 in a press release.
“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,” added 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 's 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.”
“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,” said Participant's Jonathan King.
Focus 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.”
“A Monster Calls” is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2016 release.