The Invention of Hugo Cabret Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'Hugo Cabret' Getting A-List Adaptation
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Scripts », Family Films »
Even with The Golden Compass sort of flaming out last fall, kids' fantasy continues to be a hot commodity. Witness the treatment that Brian Selznick's highly acclaimed illustrated novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret is currently receiving. The adaptation is being ushered into production by GK Films, whose last project was The Departed. They've recruited in-demand screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator, Sweeney Todd) to write the screenplay. And the film will be directed by Chris Wedge (Ice Age, Robots), trying to make an Andrew Adamson-like break into live-action having mastered CGI animation. The plan is to start filming this fall, presumably with an eye toward getting the movie out by Christmas of next year.The Invention of Hugo Cabret isn't just any old children's book. Its author says that it's "not exactly a novel, and it's not quite a picture book, and it's not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things." The New York Times called it "a silent film on paper." It's about an orphaned boy working as a clock cleaner in a Paris train station who gets embroiled in a mystery involving another of the train station's denizens. Sounds like fun, and also like an opportunity to make something generic out of something unique. Ah, but that's unfairly pessimistic (even if Robots was awful) -- I'm actually a sucker for this tyke-fantasy stuff. Another one for the ole' reading list...
Scorsese May Take On Invention of Hugo Cabret
Filed under: Deals », Paramount », Warner Brothers », Family Films », Newsstand »
It's like The Departed, but, ya know --- for kids. With everyone talking about a possible Departed trilogy as of late, Martin Scorsese might be thinking differently; Variety tells us Warner Bros. and Graham King's Initial Entertainment have picked up the children's novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, as a potential directing vehicle for Scorsese. But can this Goodfella warm our hearts after he's already ripped them up, cursed them out and tore them to shreds? How odd would it be buying a ticket for a Scorsese pic with a slew of little kids lined up behind you? It might be odd, but it's certainly something I'm already looking forward to.
Not only is Scorsese involved, but King has snatched Aviator scribe John Logan to help pen the script -- which, apparently, is being written "immediately." Brian Selznick's novel takes place in the 1930s and concerns an orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station, his late father, a robot and some sort of mystery that involves all three. No word yet whether this will indeed by Scorsese's next project; since The Departed bashed the box office, the man has signed a first-look deal with Paramount, and attached himself to two other period pieces: Silence deals with 17th century Jesuit priests, and Last Duel is set in Medieval France. Tack on those Departed sequels (or prequels), as well as a rumored Theodore Roosevelt project, and Scorsese has a pretty full plate with plenty of leftovers to nosh on for the next few years.
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