Considering how well he did the last time he adapted a novel into a film (you might have heard of Let The Right One In), Swedish director Tomas Alfredson definitely seems to be keeping to the pattern with his next couple of jobs. He’s already hard at work on Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy with a fantastic selection of British acting talent, but looking further ahead, he’s also agreed to make Larklight for Warner Bros.
Readers with memories that stretch back as far as 2006 might recall that Warners bought up the rights to Philip Reeve’s novel, intending to adapt the space opera for the screen. It’s easy to see why it was attractive: a compelling blend of Victorian drama and Zathura-style sci-fi shenanigans, it’s set in an alternate universe where humanity has been exploring space for more than a hundred years, and finds two kids who go on an adventure when their house (which orbits the moon) is attacked by nasty sentient spider types.
Shekhar Kapur was the first director to approach the material back in 2008, working with Eastern Promises’ Steve Knight to get the script into shape. But after Kapur left to work on New York, I Love You, the project has remained largely dormant.
Now, according to the Heat Vision blog, Knight is working on a new draft, which Alfredson may well make his next assignment once John Le Carre’s spies are dealt with.