Fulwell73 (“The Late Late Show with James Corden,” “Hitsville: The Making of Motown”), is ramping up its scripted TV slate by optioning the rights to British author Helen Cresswell’s children’s time traveling novel Moondial.
Screenwriter Matt Lopez (“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” “Race to Witch Mountain,” “Bedtime Stories”) has been signed up to adapt the high-end fantasy drama. Fulwell73 has partnered with independent studio wiip (“Dickinson,” “The White House Plumbers”) to develop as a premium series for television. Executive producers on the project include Lopez, Fulwell73’s Leo Pearlman, Jeff Grosvenor and Heather Greenwood and Paul Lee and Nne Ebong for wiip.
Moondial is being reimagined and developed as a modern new TV franchise which goes beyond the original novel to further explore the magic, enchantment and power of moontime. It was previously made into a children’s TV series for the BBC in the 1980s.
Leo Pearlman said: “Moondial is an incredibly uplifting and important story, which illustrates the importance of valuing people for who they are, not what they look like or where they come from, a message ever more pertinent given the world we’re all now living in. Matt Lopez’s track record writing action, adventure stories in the realms of magic make him a great fit for Moondial and we’re delighted to have him onboard to adapt it as a premium TV franchise. We’ve no doubt that he’ll conjure up a compelling modern take on Helen Cresswell’s epic fantasy tale, delving deeper into the concept of moontime and developing this TV franchise to take it to the next level. Our aim with this project is to engage and enchant children and their families across the world and to leave them with a message of positivity, hope and joy.”
Matt Lopez said: “Like the best genre stories, Helen Cresswell’s Moondial uses fantasy and the supernatural to reveal something deep, eternal and true about human beings and how we relate to each other. It’s a time travel story whose themes are quite literally timeless. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be partnering with the talented folks at Fulwell73 and wiip on bringing it to the screen for a modern audience.”
Matt Lopez is repped by LIT Entertainment Group and attorney Melissa Rogal. Matthew Dench and Julia Churchill of Dench Arnold negotiated the deal on behalf of the Helen Cresswell estate with wiip and Fulwell73.
Jon Creamer
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