Kids book The Invention of Hugo Cabret isn't your typicalb moppet entertainment. For one thing, it's rather thick and intimidating looking, being about three inches deep and covered with a slip that features narry a single dancing bunny. But it's also a rather lovely mix of story and gorgeously smudgy penciled images, so it's no wonder that Martin Scorsese's name has already been mentioned in connection with it, or that Ice Age's Chris Wedge has now signed on to give this great wedge of fiction the big-screen treatment.
The story's about the eponymous Hugo, an orphaned boy who lives high in the rafters of one of Paris' train stations, taking care of the clock and trying to avoid official entanglements. He keeps busy trying to repair a device left to him by his father, with the help of a toymaker whose products he (at first) steals for parts. What emerges is a touching story, and also one that pays tribute to cinema itself (hence Scorsese's reported interest several months back).
Wedge also directed Robots, and executive produced Horton Hears A Who, but this will be a live-action effort (kind of a shame, given that the drawings lend themselves to a The Snowman-like approach, but probably for the best). The really good news is that John Logan, best known for work including The Aviator, Gladiator and Sweeney Todd, will be writing the script - so expect smarts, people, and an effective translation to the screen.