The Shack movie rights have sold to Summit Entertainment, according to a Monday report from Deadline .
The website noted that the runaway bestseller by William Paul Young would be produced by Gil Netter , who brought The Blind Side , Marley and Me , and Life of Pi , to the screen.
Netter has also served as a producer on Water for Elephants , and he executive produced Eragon , so there is some familiarity there with successfully bringing beloved books to movie audiences.
The real question for us is: what took so long? Not to endorse the faith-based novel — after all, we’ve got to read it first — but there is a huge following for it.
Released in 2007 by Brad Cummings, who will co-produce, and his business partner Wayne Jacobsen, the novel has spent 180 straight weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List .
In the process, it has sold more than 18 million copies worldwide, but only six years later, have The Shack movie rights actually sold. Obviously, Hollywood takes its time, but then, with Netter, the wait could be worth it.
The Shack tells the story of Mackenzie Allen Philips, who gets a mysterious note in the mail inviting him to the titular shack. The letter is signed Papa, his wife’s nickname for God.
Responding to the note, Mack enters the presence of God, on a transformational journey of truth, forgiveness, and acceptance.
No word on who might be interested in starring as this one’s still a way off, but now that Netter is steering the ship, we expect things will happen quickly.
And for fans of faith-based entertainment, The Shack can’t come to screens soon enough. Viewers have been clamoring for more since the highly rated premiere of The Bible mini-series and later this year Killing Jesus will begin filming for a probable early 2014 release to television.
Netter’s adaptation of Young’s novel will play theaters, and it’s a modern context instead of historical, something audiences could find more accessible.
Are you excited for The Shack movie? Who would you cast as Mack?
[Image via Flickr Creative Commons ]
