In just a few months the big screen adaption of Lois Lowry’s The Giver will hit theaters. We sat down with the film’s director, Phillip Noyce to get the scoop on what it was like to adapt such a beloved book for the silver screen.
It’s no secret by now that the big screen adaption of The Giver, which is set to hit theaters in August, is a passion project long in the making. But despite the fact that actor Jeff Bridges (who stars in the upcoming adaption as The Giver himself) had been trying to shop the film around Hollywood for about 15 years before The Weinstein Company picked it up, director Phillip Noyce says he feels as though he very much came into the project in the midnight hour.
“I was very much a Johnny-come-lately,” Noyce told Hypable. “Harvey Weinstein approached me with the script and a novel about two years ago. I hadn’t read the book before but I was aware of it having two children who went to school in California who were great fans of the book.”
As for what made him want to get involved with the project, Noyce says he credits that to the film’s riveting screenplay.
“I read the screenplay first and I thought, wow, this is the kind of movie you only dream about as a director,” explained Noyce. “It’s a very unusual combination of great characters, extraordinary and fascinating settings, and a book and a screenplay that was full of very provocative ideas.”
Despite falling in love with the screenplay, Noyce admits that of course he was a bit nervous to take on the task of bringing a beloved book to life. That being said, the director says he feels as though the studio had one secret weapon on their side that came in the form of the book’s author, Lois Lowry.
“In many ways, Lowry became the Giver herself. She guided us and was our mentor and although there are differences between the novel and the film, she was careful to give us advice — ‘don’t do this, don’t do that, this is OK.'” said Noyce who also added that the author advised on everything from the design of the community and the costumes, to last minute details that occurred in the post production of the film.
Despite the fact that The Giver seems like the latest in a string of young adult novels to hit the big screen, director Phillip Noyce is confident that the film will be received well.
“There’s been so many of these YA films that have come out but the interesting thing is, I don’t think anyone’s going to feel that they’re seeing another YA film,” said Noyce. “I think they’re going to feel like they’re seeing the young adult film because not only did [The Giver] precede all of them, but it distinguishes itself with the quality and the depth of the ideas that ricoshade around the story.”
Starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgard, Katie Holmes, Taylor Swift, and Cameron Monaghan, The Giver hits theaters on August 15.
Want to read more about The Giver? Check out our exclusive interview with Shameless actor Cameron Monaghan who plays Asher in the upcoming book-to-film adaption.
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