According to Deadline, Henry Selick is attached to direct Disney’s upcoming adaptation of Coraline author Neil Gaiman‘s The Graveyard Book, a dark children’s fantasy novel. Selick is no stranger to Gaiman’s work, having directed the 2009 adaptation of Coraline. His impressive resume also includes The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.
Selick’s correlation with The Graveyard Book is in addition to another “top secret” Disney-based Pixar film, which is set to release before this young adult adaptation. Whether or not both movies will be Pixar films is slightly unclear. Kind of confusing – but two Henry Selick films produced by Disney are promising nonetheless.
The Graveyard Book is still looking for a screenwriter, and although Selick himself wrote the Coraline script, it’s difficult to imagine that such a busy man would have time to do so for this film as well.
Gaiman’s novel is about a boy named Nobody Owens, who is raised by occupants of a graveyard after his family is murdered. The story already sounds darker than Coraline, but I’m sure a Disney version can’t be too scary. And with Selick, the book is certainly in good hands.
What do you think? Let us know your thoughts about a Selick-directed adaptation of The Graveyard Book in the comments.