Don’t worry, you’re not reading that headline wrong. E. Nesbit’s book is definitely titled Five Children And It. However, Andy De Emmony’s (Red Dwarf, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man) upcoming film is based on slightly different material: Jacqueline Wilson’s modernised version of the 1902 novel.
In the first piece of casting news for the film-based-on-a-book-based-on-a-book, British trio Michael Caine, Bill Nighy and Matthew Goode are locked in to star in as of yet unannounced roles. For those unfamiliar with the source material, the action centres around a group of children who stumble across a magical, wish-granting creature called the Psammead. (Fingers crossed for Nighy to voice him.)
This isn’t the first time the Psammead has been seen on screen. 2004 saw Eddie Izzard voice ‘It’ alongside Freddie Highmore and Kenneth Branagh a decade after the BBC’s two-series arc (known as The Sand Fairy in the US). There’s also an ‘80s anime version, should you be a Psammead completist.
Filming is due to start in the UK in August, with Milk VFX (who worked on the Oscar-winning Ex Machina) providing the creature FX. With news that The Famous Five and Swallows And Amazons are also getting a big screen update, it looks like 20th century fiction is well and truly back in fashion.