The classic children’s novel The Wind in the Willows is set to receive a movie treatment.
Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and Oscar-winning producer Gerald R. Molen (Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park) are getting behind a film adaptation of British author Kenneth Grahame’s famed effort. Fellowes will write the script to bring the beloved characters Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger to life on the big screen.
Disney previously turned Grahame book’s into a short animated film in 1949, and TV takes followed.
Fellowes will collaborate with director and creative Ray Griggs, Richard Taylor at Weta Workshop and Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital.
“We could not have dreamed of a better writer and creative force than Julian Fellowes to work with Ray Griggs to bring to life the classic English novel’s characters, nor finer visionaries than WETA to capture the look and feel of Grahame’s world,” Molen, who will produce the movie adaptation, said Wednesday in a statement.
Production on the project is set to take place this year at Jackson’s Stone Street Studios in Wellington, New Zealand, while Skywalker Sound will design all the sound effects and ambient noise.
“We are finalizing some of the finest actors to lend their creative and vocal talents,” added Molen, without giving anything away on casting.
Molen’s production company, Kindred Images, is partnering with Bill Melendez Productions in London to co-produce the project.
