Juliet Blake, the producer of this summer’s art house hit The Hundred-Foot Journey, has optioned the rights to Neil Gaiman’s take on the classic folktale Hansel and Gretel for a live-action movie.  Gaiman’s Hansel and Gretel (cover price $18.95), which is illustrated by the extremely talented Italian artist Lorenzo Mattotti, is due out from Toon Books on October 28th.
 
Gaiman told Variety that the themes of Brothers Grimm saga make it as relevant as ever: "For me, retelling Hansel and Gretel was a way of telling an old tale in a way that made it immediate and true, and about us, now.  It reminds us of how paper thin civilization really is. It’s about hunger, and about families.  I’m thrilled and delighted to be working with Juliet Blake to bring Hansel and Gretel to the world again, and to show people how much this story has to say to us."
 
Gaiman's novels Coraline and Stardust were previously adapted into feature films, the former animated and the latter live-action.  Currently Gaiman’s long-gestating Sandman project is still in the works at Warner Bros. (see "'Sandman' Movie"), and an adaptation of his American Gods novel has moved from HBO to Starz (see "Fuller and Green on 'American Gods'").