Paddington writer boards Enid Blyton film

Simon FarnabySimon Farnaby, writer of the hugely successful sequel Paddington 2, has come on board to write the live-action adaptation of Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree. 

The film is being made by Neal Street Productions, and was first listed on Production Intelligence three years ago as a development project.

It is early days on the project with no filming dates in place yet, but subscribers should follow Magic Faraway Tree on our site for future updates. 

Neal Street Productions’ Pippa Harris and Nicolas Brown will produce. There are four books in the Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton, which were published between 1946 and 1951, with all having been optioned by Neal Street from Hachette Children’s Group. Paddington backer Studiocanal is also on board. 

Studiocanal CEO Danny Perkins said: “Enid Blyton’s work is timeless. Like many, I have loved her writing since childhood and it’s incredible to develop such an expansive project with first class partners Neal Street Productions and Simon Farnaby. Not unlike the work of Michael Bond CBE, we very much look forward to bringing enduring family classics to audiences worldwide.”

Neal Street Productions is currently around half way through a four-month shoot on contemporary crime drama Informer and will be gearing up next spring for the eighth series of popular period drama Call the Midwife. 
 

Simon Farnaby photo via Getty Images/WireImage/Karwai Tang. 



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