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EXCLUSIVE: Bonnie Arnold (Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon trilogy) and Louise Goodsill (August Rush, An Education) have teamed up to adapt Juniper’s Christmas from bestselling author of Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer.
The deal was struck by Emily Hayward-Whitlock at The Artists Partnership in association with Sophie Hicks at Sophie Hicks Agency.
“Eoin has created a fresh and imaginative rendering of a contemporary Santa and a brave young heroine, Juniper Lane, who sets out to save Christmas and Santa himself,” Arnold and Goodsill said in a statement. “It’s a special book with unforgettable characters that we look forward to making into a wonderful film for all to enjoy — a family adventure filled with joy.”
Published by Macmillan Children’s in the U.S. and HarperCollins in the UK in October 2023, Juniper’s Christmas tells the story of eleven-year-old Juniper Lane as she’s thrown into a Christmas adventure like no other when she seeks the help of a mysterious woodsman living in her local park, who she suspects is Santa himself, and accidentally gets exposed to North Pole magic.
“Bonnie and Louise have incredible track records and have created classic movies that everyone with access to a screen has seen many times,” said Colfer. “I am a big fan of them both so I feel very lucky that they are adapting Juniper’s Christmas. I cannot wait to see what magic they sprinkle over the story to make it come alive for the viewers.”
Arnold, a leader in animated storytelling, has produced films like Over the Hedge, Tarzan and an upcoming Peanuts animated original film in addition to the titles named above. The combined revenue for the films she has produced has made more than $3.5 billion at the box office.
Goodsill, founder and former president of London-based finance and distribution company Odyssey Entertainment, has produced films like The Phantom of the Opera in addition to August Rush starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Robin Williams, Leon Thomas III and Terrence Howard as well as An Education starring Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike and others. She is currently producing several recurring series and feature films in partnership with Canal Plus, Red Production Company, Federation, and producing partners Marigo Kehoe and Bonnie Arnold.
Eoin Colfer wrote the internationally bestselling Artemis Fowl series, which has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and was made into a Disney feature film directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Colin Farrell and Dame Judi Dench. Other titles include The Wish List, The Supernaturalist, The Fowl Twins, Airman and Juniper’s Christmas.
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