First announced a couple of years ago, development on a film version of literary and TV perennial The Little House On The Prairie hasn't moved quickly. But gingham may be about to come back in style after all. The peculiar news this morning is that Sean Durkin, director of the indie psychological thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene and producer of Simon Killer, is in talks to open the doors{
Most of us encountered the TV adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s semi-autobiographical children’s classic book series on Channel 4 Sunday mornings, as it chronicled the gentle adventures of Ingalls family on the 19th century American frontier. We were introduced to Charles and Caroline Ingalls and their three daughters, Mary, Laura and Carrie.
The word you're looking for is "wholesome", but there's something interesting afoot with the new movie that nobody's quite telling us yet. Before Durkin, the Little House was on the radar of similarly idiosyncratic indie director David Gordon Green, equally at home with a serious drama or a stoner comedy. The screenplay is by Abi Morgan, who wrote Shame...
How do these sensibilities play into the adventures of the Ingalls? We don't know, but we're intrigued. Perhaps the plan is to allow a little more of the books' tragedies and dangers onto the screen, and cut back somewhat on the moralising.
Durkin has yet to officially sign on, but Scott Rudin (Inside Llewyn Davis, Captain Phillips) is installed as producer. We'll continue to scratch our heads and keep a beady eye on this one.