Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine Headed to the Big Screen
Posted 08.22.11 by BrentJS
It has been announced in a press release that Mike Medavoy, producer of such acclaimed movies as Shutter Island and Black Swan, and Doug McKay, Vice-President of Production at Phoenix Pictures, have teamed with legendary sci-fi, fantasy and horror author Ray Bradbury, screenwriter Rodion Nahapetov (Contamination), and producer Natasha Shliapnikoff (Stir) to produce a movie adaptation of Bradbury's enchanting novel Dandelion Wine. First published in 1957, Dandelion Wine is a collection of semi-autobiographical short stories that chronicle the magical adventures of a young boy in the summer of 1928.
Here's the synopsis of the book from its listing on Amazon:
Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois, is as vast and deep as the whole wide world that lies beyond the city limits. It is a pair of brand-new tennis shoes, the first harvest of dandelions for Grandfather's renowned intoxicant, the distant clang of the trolley's bell on a hazy afternoon. It is yesteryear and tomorrow blended into an unforgettable always. But as young Douglas is about to discover, summer can be more than the repetition of established rituals whose mystical power holds time at bay. It can be a best friend moving away, a human time machine who can transport you back to the Civil War, or a sideshow automaton able to glimpse the bittersweet future.
Nahapetov first adapted Dandelion Wine into a musical short in 1971 and said that he was "deeply honored" to be chosen by Bradbury to write the movie adaptation.
When I began my studies at the Cinema Institute in Moscow, many foreign books were banned in Soviet Russia. Still, I decided to make my short film based upon Dandelion Wine because this novel represented to me the childhood I never had. My childhood had been stolen by the ravages and destruction of post World War II Russia and “Dandelion Wine” restored it back for me.
Bradbury, who turns 91 today, said in a statement:
This is the best birthday gift I could ask for. Today, I have been reborn! Dandelion Wine is my most deeply personal work and brings back memories of sheer joy as well as terror. This is the story of me as a young boy and the magic of an unforgettable summer which still holds a mystical power over me.
Happy birthday, Ray!