A film adaptation for the young adult fantasy book Nevermoor, which launches on Halloween, will be written by Drew Goddard for 20th Century Fox. The book, full title Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, is the debut novel of author Jessica Townsend published by Brown Books for Young Readers.
The book follows the story of Morrigan Crow, a 10-year-old girl who was born on Eventide - the unluckiest day for any child to be born – and is blamed for much of the town’s misfortune from hailstones to heart attacks. Worst of all, Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her 11th birthday due to a curse. As Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange man named Jupiter North appears and brings her to the secret and magical city of Nevermoor. There, Morrigan discovers that Jupiter has chosen her to join the city's most prestigious organization - the Wundrous Society. To join, Morrigan must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children – all with unique talents. If Morrigan passes the tests she can stay in the safety of Nevermoor, if not she must return home and face her fate.
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As reported by THR Drew Goddard has been tapped to write the screenplay and produce the film for Fox.
Goddard is best known for the cult film Cloverfield, the horror/dark comedy film The Cabin in the Woods, and the film adaptation of Andy Weir's novel, The Martian. Goddard also worked on many popular fantasy and science fiction television series including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, J.J. Abrams' series Lost and Alias and has written episodes of Marvel’s Netflix series’ The Defenders and Daredevil, a series he was originally going to serve as showrunner for, but ended up stepping down. His future projects including the period crime thriller Bad Times at the El Royale and the X-Men spinoff X-Force, also for Fox.
There is no news about when the film is expected to hit theaters, but considering the novel is already generating excitement in literary circles and it's been confirmed that Jessica Townsend has already signed a three book deal (and has mentioned in interviews that she has storylines planned out for at least nine books) it sounds like the franchise is going to be a success. If the series does well with its target audience, it may be the next Hunger Games or Twilight.
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Source: THR