A new series of films based on The Neverending Story is in the works, which will seek to tackle the fantasy tale in “a fresh way”.
Forty years after Wolfgang Petersen’s 1984 fantasy film The Neverending Story traumatised a generation of young movie-goers with its image of a depressed, sinking horse, a new adaptation of the original book has been announced.
See-Saw Films, the production company behind Jane Campion’s Oscar-winning The Power Of The Dog, is partnering with the estate of late German author Michael Ende to make a potential series of films based on the successful book, first published in 1979.
Both the novel and the film told the tale of a shy young boy, Bastian, who retreats into the fantasy world of the titular Neverending Story book.
“The story is both timely and timeless, and really has an opportunity to be told in a fresh way,” producer Iain Canning told Variety. “And part of the specialness of the book is that you can go back to it at different ages in your life and find different levels of meaning. So how wonderful that we have this opportunity to do a fresh perspective that will have new layers and meanings. We just believe that every generation deserves their own journey into Fantastica.”
That same Variety piece points out that The Neverending Story is a bit of a departure for See-Saw, given that’s more used to developing prestige film and television, with The King’s Speech and the acclaimed Slow Horses among its other output.
Canning adds that the new take on the book will be “a full quadrant spectacle of a film,” with sequels also planned. See-Saw is now seeking out distributors to partner on the project, which is still in its early stages.
There have been several attempts to revive The Neverending Story over the years, with one involving producer Kathleen Kennedy falling apart in the late 2000s, while a bidding war broke out for the book’s rights in 2022. Evidently, See-Saw emerged as the victor.
“The journey, in many ways, starts now,” Canning said. “For us, we now need to speak to writers and directors and hear their passion for the material.”
