Philip Pullman may have hit Hollywood paydirt by selling the rights to the His Dark Materials trilogy to New Line Cinema – but it seems his interest in film goes beyond the bottom line.
According to the Independent’s Pandora, the author has awarded the film rights to an earlier novel, The Butterfly Tattoo, free of charge to a small independent Dutch company that promotes educational projects for young people. Dynamic Entertainment now has the option to adapt the book, in exchange for 10% of any eventual revenues. Filming is expected to begin in August.
Guardian Unlimited Books has the full story, which includes a brief description of the story. It notes that the film’s budget is just 200,000 euros – quite a difference from the £83m being spent on The Golden Compass.