Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist' film adaptation back in development
MANILA, Philippines — A movie adaptation of Brazilian author Paulo Coelho's best-selling book "The Alchemist" is back in the works after years in development hell.
Film studio Legendary Entertainment has obtained the rights to Coelho's novel and will adapt it into a movie alongside Sony’s TriStar Pictures and Palmstar.
British screenwriter and playwright Jack Thorne — showrunner of "His Dark Materials," writer of the "Enola Holmes" movies, co-writer of "Wonder," and brought to stage "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" — has been attached to write the screenplay.
"The Alchemist" follows a young man named Santiago searching for a worldly treasure, and in the process teaches readers "about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, above all, following our dreams."
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Since its original Portuguese publication in 1988, the book has gone on to become an international bestseller and is the most translated book worldwide by a living author as confirmed by Guinness World Records.
There have been numerous attempts to adapt "The Alchemist" into film, the most recent one being celebrity couple Will and Jada Pinkett Smith through their Westbrook Studios in 2016.
"The Matrix" actor Laurence Fishburne has long wanted to adapt the movie and at one point was even attached to direct, with British actor Idris Elba potentially starring.
None of those planned projects ever got into the pre-production stage, but hopefully now Thorne and Legendary will finally be able to bring Coelho's beloved story to the big screen.
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