Nikolaj Arcel earned huge acclaim for directing the Oscar-nominated period drama A Royal Affair, as well as co-writing the screenplay for the Swedish adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Now he’s going Hollywood, as THR reports he’s signed up to direct the planned film version of the long-running DC/Vertigo series Fables.
Harry Potter’s David Heyman is set to produce, with Jeremy Slater handling the screenplay (he also wrote the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot).
With fairy tale films all the rage, Fables could certainly do well. Created by Bill Willham, it takes all the characters from classic fairy tales and puts them in our world. They live in a secret pocket of New York City, where they’ve created their own community, informally known as Fabletown.
Warner Bros. previously tried to turn it into a movie in 2004 with the Jim Henson Company, and in 2008 ABC tried to turn it into a television series (instead they made Once Upon A Time). This latest take previously had David Yates in the frame to direct, but he’s now been replaced by Arcel.