By I’m not as big a fan of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman as I am of his other works. It’s entertaining enough, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just a bit flat, given the potential for cool storytelling out of a main character that’s a lone living boy that lives in a graveyard along with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls. The book has, along with much of Gaiman’s work, been on tap as a possible film, and now it’s that much closer to actually happening than, say, Neverwhere. Disney, having purchased the rights to the book at no small expense, have attached Coraline and A Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick to direct the film after he finishes with an under-wraps project with Pixar.
Of all the possible directors to take the film on, Selick’s a fantastic choice. He’s already got a fantastic notion for how Gaiman’s more kid-friendly books get adapted, and he’s also capable of bringing so-called “child friendly” material to some pretty scary places, both of which are on display in Coraline. With any luck, the film will be stop-motion animated as well. I gotta say, between Pirates and Paranorman and even Frankenweenie, I love the sudden surge of stop-motion movies in Hollywood right now.
[Via Deadline]