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Capitol and Henson Adapting "Five Children and It"

Courtesy of Comingsoon.net
May 13, 2003

Capitol Films is teaming with Jim Henson's Creature Shop to produce "Five Children and It", a family adventure film based on Edith Nesbit's classic 1902 novel, says Variety. Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Izzard and Freddie Highmore (Peter Pan in J.M. Barrie's Neverland) will star in the $20 million movie, to be directed by Creature Shop topper John Stephenson.

It's the story of five siblings who are sent to stay with their uncle (Branagh) in a strange house by the sea. While exploring, they dig up an ill-tempered 8,000-year-old Psammead, or sand fairy, voiced by Izzard, who grants them one wish a day. But the consequences are never quite what the children intend.

The film, which starts shooting in July, will blend live action with animatronics and CGI. The setting will be considerably updated from the book's original period, but it will not be explicitly contemporary.

The script is by David Solomon, with Nick Hirschkorn and Lisa Henson producing.