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PRODUCTION / FUNDING UK / France / Sweden

A new Pippi Longstocking film adaptation is in the works

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- The beloved children’s book heroine is set to return to the big screen through StudioCanal and Heyday Films, the production duo that brought us Paddington

A new Pippi Longstocking film adaptation is in the works
Pippi Longstocking creator Astrid Lindgren

Next year will mark 75 years since the first appearance in literature of Pippi Longstocking, the iconic character created by legendary Swedish children’s author Astrid Lindgren and inspired by a series of bedside stories she told to her daughter Karin. The first three-chapter books about the red-haired freckled heroine were published from 1945 to 1948 and were soon followed by three short stories as well as numerous picture book adaptations. The stories of Pippi, the daughter of a pirate king and “the strongest girl in the world”, have sold more than 65 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 77 languages.

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Pippi’s adventures have already been adapted to film and television multiple times, with the latest live-action being Ken Annakin’s 1988 film The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking. As was recently announced, the character is now getting a new film produced by French company StudioCanal and the London-based Heyday Films who, in partnership with the Astrid Lindgren Company, are developing an English-language film based on her classic adventures.

Regarding this new reboot, Nils Nyman, CEO at Astrid Lindgren Film and grandchild of Astrid Lindgren, stated: “In David Heyman, with his impressive track-record of bringing great literary works to the screen, together with StudioCanal, we are confident that we have found a team that can understand and appreciate the full value of Pippi Longstocking and develop films that capture both the playfulness and the gravity in my grandmother’s works. We are therefore very excited and pleased to announce this collaboration. I’m especially thrilled to announce this now, when we’re in the midst of planning Pippi Longstocking’s upcoming 75th Anniversary in 2020 together with a global campaign in support of Save the Children’s important work for Children on the Move”.

StudioCanal and Heyday Films have already partnered in the past to bring to life Michael Bond’s children books with the features Paddington [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
and Paddington 2 [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
. They are now collaborating on another children’s classic, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, which is currently in post-production, and on a Paddington animated television series.

StudioCanal CEO Didier Lupfer and EVP international production and acquisitions Ron Halpern added: “We greatly appreciate the confidence the family of Astrid Lindgren has shown in us, letting us be their partner in bringing the timeless, wonderful, and joyful creation of hers to the big screen. It’s a real pleasure to work again with David Heyman and the team at Heyday, bringing Pippi to audiences around the world. Pippi will play to the imaginations of adults and children alike, and we are so delighted to bring her beautifully enduring stories to life.”

Finally, David Heyman, whose company is also behind all eight films made of J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter novels and Fantastic Beasts, and who will produce alongside Jeffrey Clifford and Rosie Alison, said: “I am thrilled to collaborate with Thomas Gustafsson, Olle Nyman and their team at the Astrid Lindgren Company and our partners at StudioCanal on this film adaptation of the brilliant and timeless Pippi Longstocking. Pippi has endured and inspired families everywhere through her life force, strength of character and her irrepressible joie de vivre. Astrid Lindgren’s books have been translated around the globe for many years, a testament to her vision which we are determined to honour with a new film.”

As the project is currently in its early development stage, no set production schedule is yet set, and no delivery or release dates have been announced.

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