Beasts of the Southern Wild playwright and co-screenwriter Lucy Alibar has been hired to pen the latest adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel The Secret Garden, which Guillermo Del Toro will produce.
Deadline broke the news, writing that Del Toro had initially hoped to direct the project, but his schedule is simply too busy and he will only produce and shepherd the project to Universal. The studio reportedly purchased the pitch for a mid-six figures deal.
In The Secret Garden, an orphaned girl is sent to live with her reclusive uncle and discovers a hidden garden containing magical secrets. This project will take on its own original path from other stage and screen adaptations seen in recent years. Word around town is that it will be set in the American South at the turn of the 20th Century.
The Secret Garden is a much-adapted, well-loved classic which last hit the silver screen in 1993 at Warner Bros. in the form of an Agnieska Holland feature.
Alibar’s feature debut was with Beasts of the Southern Wild, which she wrote with directed Benh Zeitlin based on her play Juicy and Delicious. The pair are nominated for an Academy Award this year for the film.