Sir Ridley Scott is producing a movie based on the dark fantasy novel The Beast Is an Animal. The British filmmaker is teaming up with Amazon Studios to produce the big screen adaptation of Peternelle van Arsdale's book via his production company Scott Free.
The Beast Is an Animal is a young adult novel which centers on teen protagonist Alys, who is forced to move to another village, when soul eaters arrive and spare only the children. These soul eaters are twin sisters, who were abandoned by their father and transformed into something not quite human, and Alys feels a connection to them because of her own secret gift - one that she fears might cause her village to label her a witch, if they were to discover it. After disaster strikes, the young girl must go on a perilous journey to heal herself and her world.
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According to Variety, Bert & Bertie have been tapped to direct the movie adaptation of The Beast Is an Animal and are currently in final negotiations with Amazon. The female directing duo are known for their 2016 YouTube Red original film Dance Camp, having previously worked in animation, documentaries and video games.
The film is Scott's first foray into the young adult genre after years of producing more adult sci-fi movies. However, it's not the first time that he's worked with Amazon Studios, seeing as he's an executive producer on their alternative-history series The Man in the High Castle. The Beast Is a Animal won't be coming out any time soon as it's still in the early development stage, but there are plenty of other films either produced and/or directed by Scott in the pipeline right now.
Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to Scott's 1982 classic, hits theaters this October with Denis Villeneuve directing. Meanwhile, Scott will be back in the director's chair for the upcoming crime drama All the Money in the World. The film, starring Kevin Spacey, Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg, tells the true story behind the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III and his grandfather's refusal to be extorted by the kidnappers.
In recent years there has been a slew of young adult fiction adaptations, from the successful Hunger Games franchise to the not so successful The Fifth Wave - but with Scott onboard, The Beast Is an Animal may very well shake up the genre. The British filmmaker is a master of the dark sci-fi genre and given the dark nature of the book, he might just be the best person to help bring it to life on the silver screen.
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Source: Variety
