Neil Gaiman’s upcoming novel, The Ocean At The End of the Lane, has been acquired for adaptation by Playtone and Focus Features, with Joe Wright attached to direct.
According to Deadline, Playtone and Focus Features have acquired The Ocean At The End of the Lane, a new novel from renowned author Neil Gaiman. Joe Wright – recently of Anna Karenina – is reportedly attached to direct, and Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, and Paul Webster will serve as producers.
The Ocean At The End of the Lane is described as, “A brilliantly imaginative and poignant fairy tale.” The blurb promises that “this bewitching and harrowing tale of mystery and survival, and memory and magic, makes the impossible all too real.”
Though the novel will not be released until June 18, one of our Hypable writers was able to get a hold of the first three chapters of The Ocean At The End of the Lane at an exclusive event. The lucky writer reports that the novel, set in Sussex, begins as the protagonist returns to his childhood home after a funeral. During the visit, he encounters the apparently un-aged mother of his childhood friend, Lettie Hempstock, and begins to recall the unsettling – and possibly supernatural – events of his childhood. The story, rich with death and curses, magic and money, represents a technical departure for Gaiman, who has never published a full novel written in the first person. The Ocean At The End of the Lane will also be Gaiman’s first novel “for adults” since Anasi Boys, which was published in 2008.
Though the release is still several months away, it is not surprising that Gaiman’s work is attracting such auspicious early attention. The author currently has two highly anticipated projects in development: his novel American Gods is being adapted for HBO, and the film adaptation of the Newbery award winning children’s novel The Graveyard Book will reportedly be directed by Ron Howard.
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