Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children is coming to the big screen. Deadline reports that Paramount Pictures, after “aggressively pursuing” the series, has landed the rights to Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children books.
The ongoing series began with 2016’s Every Heart a Doorway, which won the Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Awards. Here’s the novella’s summary:
Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No QuestsChildren have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things.
No matter the cost.
Deadline reports that Paramount considers the series a potential franchise, given the number of books (currently six, with a seventh on the way) and McGuire’s considerable fanbase. Paramount “has already drawn interest from top talent to be a part of” the adaptations, which will be produced by Pouya Shahbazian (Divergent, Shadow and Bone).
McGuire tweeted about the news, saying that she thinks the team working on the films will do their best to do right by the series’ diverse characters: “Everyone I’ve spoken to has been very enthusiastic, and very dedicated to the idea that the success of this series IS its diversity.“
Everyone I've spoken to has been very enthusiastic, and very dedicated to the idea that the success of this series IS its diversity. I don't/won't/can't have any casting control, but I'm also not terribly concerned; I think they'll do their best to do right.
— Seanan McGuire (@seananmcguire) July 29, 2021
The seventh Wayward Children book, Where the Drowned Girls Go, will be out in January 2022 from Tordotcom Publishing.
