Film adaptation of Clive Barker’s Thief of Always back on

Clive Barker was my favorite author in middle school and high school, and he remains a fond favorite to this day. After 20 years in development hell, his first children’s book, The Thief of Always, may finally become a film. Barker posted the following over the weekend on his official Facebook page:

The Thief of Always is being directed as a live action feature by one of my oldest and most creative friends, Oliver Parker. More news to come as this project gets underway.

The Thief Of Always will as ‘kid friendly’ as the book. But it won’t sickly sweet.Where the book is scary the movie will be too. Oliver Parker and I have been talking about making this book into a film for a long time. And his understanding of why I write my stories,and how I create characters could not be deeper.He was an actor before he turned to directing,and one of the roles he played for me was that of Peloquin, of the Nightbreed.

Parker and Barker go way, way back. Parker was a part of The Dog Company, Barker’s theater group back in the 70s and early 80s that put on plays like History of the Devil, Frankenstein In Love, and The Secret Life of Cartoons. Parker’s credits as a director include the 1995 version of Othello with Mel Gibson, the 2002 version of The Importance of Being Earnest with Rupert Everett, and Johnny English Reborn.

Hopefully this doesn’t fall apart like the previous attempts to adapt the book. If it does get made and performs well, it might pave the way for an adaptation of Barker’s visually and imaginatively ambitious Abarat books.