Rhianna Pratchett working with the Henson Company on a new Wee Free Men movie

Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men

by James White |
Published on

Originally published in 2003 under his Story of Discworld young adult label, Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men captured our imagination and has been in development as a feature film since around 2006, when Sam Raimi announced he was intent on making it. It's been in limbo ever since, and Pratchett's daughter Rhianna announced she'd be taking it over a couple of years ago. She's now working alongside the Jim Henson Company to finally get it made.

The original book (which spawned a series) follows nine year-old Tiffany Aching, a young girl with a talent for witchcraft, who finds adventure when the evil Queen of the Fairies kidnaps her small, sticky brother and she has to defend her home against the various monsters of fairyland. She is assisted in this by the wee free men of the Clan Nac MacFeegle, a group of vaguely Scottish, boozy, kilt-wearing, thieving, fighting blue six-inch "pictsies".

Narrativia, which Pratchett launched in 2012 to oversee the rights to his work and has been continued by Rhianna since his death last year, will work with the Henson team to push the new movie forward, with Brian Henson on as executive producer. Rhianna will write the script, but there's no director attached yet. Here's hoping it finally means we get to see a Terry Pratchett tale on the big screen...

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