Paul McCartney children’s novel High In The Clouds is heading to the big screen – here are all the fab details we have so far.
Paul McCartney has been a star onscreen almost as long as he’s been arguably the most famous musician in the world. From his debut with The Beatles in A Hard Days Night in 1964 through his more esoteric 1980s projects like the underrated Give My Regards To Broad Street and his composition of We All Stand Together for the short animated film, Rupert And The Frog Song, his contributions to film and television stretch back almost 70 years.
We’ve now learned that McCartney is set to return to the world of children’s entertainment with High In The Clouds, an animated adaptation of his 2005 novel which was originally conceived as a sequel to the aforementioned Rupert film.
The plot follows the journey of a squirrel called Wirral, who lives in a world where music is banned by Gretsch – an owl. He joins forces with a band of musicians in a secret place high in the clouds called Harmonia. According to a review of the book over on The Guardian, McCartney’s story is “a tale about the perils of unchecked global capitalism,” with the aforementioned Gretsch described as a “kind of Bush-Thatcher composite.”
The same article also reveals that McCartney originally conceived High In The Clouds as a film project before he write it as a children’s book, so it’s sort of fitting that it’s finally getting a big-screen adaptation. Circle of life! No, wait – that was Elton John.
McCartney has written six original songs for the film, which will be directed by Toby Genkel (The Amazing Maurice) from a screenplay by Paddington 2 co-writer Jon Croker.
High In The Clouds will go into production early 2024.
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