A big-screen adaptation of Bill Willingham’s popular Fables comic series has been in the works at Warner Brothers for quite some time now, but has not had a substantial update in nearly two years. Thankfully, that’s now changed, as the film has gained a new screenwriter in the form of Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class and Kingsman: The Secret Service scribe Jane Goldman.
Goldman will pen a draft that builds upon the one written by A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel, who jumped on board to helm the film back in 2013. The update comes from producer David Heyman (Gravity, Harry Potter), who assures us that Arcel is still involved and offers words of encouragement for those eager to see the DC/Vertigo comic brought to life:
“Jane Goldman is working on a draft as we speak. Nik Arcel is attached [to direct]. He did a draft, and now he’s supervising Jane, who’s doing a draft. Hoping that it’ll come in and we’ll be able to move to the next stage. All these things always take longer than you want. And Fables is not easy, by any means, but I think it’ll be pretty great.”
For those unfamiliar with the property, Fables tells the story of the beloved fairy tale characters and creatures we know and love, who are living among us but hiding their abilities and identities. It’s an ambitious story that’s particularly tricky to adapt, so I’m not surprised that it’s taken this long for the film to gain traction.
Heyman went on to talk a bit about what drew him to the story in the first place, and was able to shed some light on how Goldman and Arcel will approach the source material:
“I’m drawn to stories about outsiders, and I think the Fables are outsiders. They’re people torn from the place where they were raised, by The Adversary. They arrive in a New York City-type place, and how we’re approaching is that they’re people who are all separate, and how they ultimately have to form the community in order to survive. They’re all inhabiting their own little universes within this world. But they have to form this community, and that really appealed to me. And I just think the characters are so vivid. And I also think the farm is, again, it’s very human. That’s what I like. It’s a challenging film.”
With Goldman now on board, Fables will hopefully move forward with more steam. As always, we’ll keep you apprised about any updates as they become available. In the meantime, let us know how you feel about this update in the comments below.
