Having long since stepped out of the shadow of older sister Dakota, Elle Fanning’s career is ticking along nicely. She’s now setting up a deal to star in an adaptation of Kevin Henkes’ young adult novel Olive’s Ocean.
Fanning will play a teenager who discovers that a classmate who died in a tragic accident had hoped to become her friend. The revelation sets our heroine off on a summer of soul searching and self-discovery.
Christina Hammonds Reed has won the chance to adapt the screenplay, but there’s no director attached yet. That’ll be the next step for producer Donald Rosenfeld, who bought the novel after hearing it was Fanning’s favourite. Elle still has her sister to thank for the new role to some degree: she met Rosenfeld while he was working with Dakota on Effie.
“I haven’t worked with a more dedicated actor than Dakota and can’t wait to work with Elle,” Rosenfeld tells Deadline. “There is such talent, they are young but they are old souls.”
With roles in the likes of Super 8 and We Bought A Zoo under her belt, Fanning is hard at work on Maleficent, playing Princess Aurora. She’s also appeared in Ginger And Rosa and is set to act in music drama **Vivaldi **next.