Harold And The Purple Crayon (film)

''Harold and the Purple Crayon'' is an upcoming American film directed by Carlos Saldanha, in his live-action directorial debut. It is based on the 1955 children’s book of the same name written by Crockett Johnson and will star Zachary Levi, Zooey Deschanel, Lil Rel Howery, and Ravi Patel.

The film is scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States on June 30, 2023 by Sony Pictures Releasing through Columbia Pictures.

Cast

* Zachary Levi
* Zooey Deschanel
* Lil Rel Howery
* Ravi Patel
* Camille Guaty
* Tanya Reynolds
* Pete Gardner

Production

Early attempts

In 1992, John B. Carls formed the family-film production company, Wild Things Productions, with Maurice Sendak, writer and illustrator of ''Where the Wild Things Are''. They acquired rights to other children's books, including ''Harold and the Purple Crayon'' and whose author Johnson, was a mentor to Sendak. Sendak and Denise Di Novi were producers. About 1994, Michael Tolkin was brought in to write the script and Henry Selick was to direct, but Selick moved on to ''James and the Giant Peach'' for Walt Disney Pictures. Carls picked Spike Jonze to develop the film, a combination of live action and animation. A budget of $25 million to almost $50 million was mentioned in the press. David O. Russell was brought in to help with rewrites. Multiple screenplays, casting, storyboards, and animation work started but Jonze had to abandoned the project after more than a year working on it when new management at TriStar Pictures stopped it, two months before principal photography.

In February 2010, it was reported that Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment were developing a CGI-animated film adaptation of ''Harold and the Purple Crayon'', to be produced by Smith and James Lassiter, and written by Josh Klausner. The film will follow a boy named Harold, who uses his magic purple crayon to retreat into his own fantasy world, but then soon realizes that he's been selfish with his crayon. So he then uses it to help his parents and others, and even go on a mission to Mars. In December 2016, it was reported that the film would also be written by Dallas Clayton. The film would still be produced by Columbia Pictures and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.

Resurgence

On February 1, 2021, it was reported that Zachary Levi would star in the film, though it was not stated what role he would play. It was also announced that Carlos Saldanha was attached to direct the new film, and that David Guion and Michael Handelman replaced Klausner and Clayton as screenwriters, with John Davis producing under his Davis Entertainment banner. Zooey Deschanel and Lil Rel Howery were both announced as part of the cast. Ravi Patel was added sometime in February 2022. Camille Guaty was revealed to have joined the cast on March 1, 2022. Tanya Reynolds was added on May 2, 2022. Pete Gardner joined on May 9, 2022.

Around the beginning of 2022, live-action filming was taking place in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Little has been announced about the plot or what roles the actors play.

Release

The film is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on June 30, 2023. It was previously scheduled to be released on January 27, 2023.

Marketing

Sony Pictures showed footage from the film as part of an upcoming releases sizzle reel at CinemaCon in April 2022.

References

External links

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{{Improve categories, date=April 2022

Upcoming films
2023 films
Films based on children's books
Films shot in Atlanta
Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state)
Davis Entertainment films
2020s English-language films
Films directed by Carlos Saldanha