He's had trouble with his recent films as a director for adults – both Labor Day and Men, Women & Children faltered critically and commercially – so Jason Reitman will be hoping for more success with a family audience, sealing a deal to write and direct Beekle for DreamWorks Animation{
Reitman will adapt The Adventures Of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, Dan Santat’s Caldecott Medal-winning story of an imaginary friend who searches for a child to connect with. With luck, it’ll let him recapture the comic tone he showed to such successful effect in Juno and Thank You For Smoking, albeit with a PG or U rating.
"I was book shopping with my daughter, when a little tooth-shaped character in a paper crown stole our hearts," Reitman explains. "His name was Beekle, and I'm honoured to now be adapting Santat's charming story into a feature film. I'm particularly proud to be working with DreamWorks Animation, makers of Kung Fu Panda, the first film my daughter ever saw on the big screen."
The director has several other projects jostling for his attention, including Kaui Hart Hemmings script **The Possibilities **and I Would Only Rob Banks For My Family, which Nick Hornby is adapting from a Texas Monthly article.