Hot off Carol‘s rapturous reception at Cannes, helmer Todd Haynes is lining up another promising project in Wonderstruck, an adaptation of the novel by The Invention of Hugo Cabret author Brian Selznick.
Haynes will both write and direct the big-screen take on Selznick’s award-winning children’s novel, which tells two stories separated by decades, one in words and the other in pictures. Here’s the official synopsis:
From Brian Selznick, the creator of the Caldecott Medal winner THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET, comes another breathtaking tour de force.
Playing with the form he created in his trailblazing debut novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick once again sails into uncharted territory and takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey.
Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother’s room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.
Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories–Ben’s told in words, Rose’s in pictures–weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder. Rich, complex, affecting, and beautiful–with over 460 pages of original artwork–Wonderstruck is a stunning achievement from a uniquely gifted artist and visionary.
This isn’t the only project on Haynes’ schedule – he’s also planning a limited series based on documentary The Source Family, and he’ll direct Reese Witherspoon in a Peggy Lee biopic. With the script for Wonderstruck reportedly completed, however, he’s sure to tackle the project sooner rather than later.
Given the brilliance of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, based on Selznick’s previous book, expectations for Wonderstruck are understandably high. Though Haynes doesn’t command the same awe and admiration that Scorsese has for decades, the helmer’s reputation is definitely on the rise after Carol, and an ambitious story like this could be what cements him as a director from whom we can regularly expect great things.
