{"id":7317,"date":"2011-11-28T14:48:36","date_gmt":"2011-11-28T22:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/?p=7317"},"modified":"2012-03-26T14:30:13","modified_gmt":"2012-03-26T22:30:13","slug":"an-aside-zoo-city-by-lauren-beukes-optioned-for-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/news\/an-aside-zoo-city-by-lauren-beukes-optioned-for-film\/","title":{"rendered":"An Aside | ZOO CITY by Lauren Beukes Optioned for Film"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Zoo<\/a>\n

Via Angry Robot, publishers of Zoo City<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Helena Spring, widely regarded as one of South Africa\u2019s most accomplished motion picture producers, has just been awarded the highly sought-after film rights to Zoo City, the Sci-Fi thriller penned by South African author Lauren Beukes \u2013 who garnered the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award for best Science Fiction novel. In the wake of whopping sales figures, multiple awards and critical acclaim Beukes\u2019 book generated fierce interest from numerous bidders in the entertainment industry, putting Spring alongside major US and UK producers eager to tell Beukes\u2019 unique tale.<\/p>\n

Zoo City was published first in South Africa by Jacana Media and thereafter internationally by by Angry Robot.<\/p>\n

The urban fantasy is set in a futuristic, gritty and hard-core Johannesburg where the eponymous ghetto has been colonised by society\u2019s outcasts \u2013 like criminals, drug-dealers and psychopaths, and their animal companions. Like the other residents of the Zoo City slum, Zinzi, the anti-heroine, is \u201canimalled\u201d, but she is also a shrewd, street-smart girl with the gift (or burden) of finding lost things. Zinzi wears her power animal, a sloth, on her back. When she is hired to find a missing teenybopper star, she hopes that it will be her ticket out of Hell\u2019s waiting room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted to have secured the film and television rights for Zoo City,\u201d commented Helena Spring. \u201cIt is a groundbreaking, magical novel begging for a life on the big screen. Lauren\u2019s storytelling is masterful \u2013 edgy and futuristic, unique yet universal. It is high in entertainment value yet emotionally charged, a dream project for any producer.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An easy and obvious choice for this project would be Neill Blomkamp, the acclaimed director of District 9<\/em>. Not only is Blomkamp South African himself, but his films are well known for their artistic vision and high-end use of CGI to create believable alien creatures, a trait that would be put to excellent use in Zoo City<\/em>, which features animal familiars similar to those found in Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass<\/em> (and I think we can all agree that we hope this adaptation is more successful the stodgy adaptation of Pullman’s work). Promises are always dicey (and often left unfulfilled) whenever the film world is involved, so, as always, Zoo City<\/em> fans should temper their excitement somewhat, but it’s still great to see Beukes recognized and rewarded for her work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Via Angry Robot, publishers of Zoo City: Helena Spring, widely regarded as one of South Africa\u2019s most accomplished motion picture producers, has just been awarded the highly sought-after film rights to Zoo City, the Sci-Fi thriller penned by South African author Lauren Beukes \u2013 who garnered the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award for best Science… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[171,116,66,35],"class_list":["post-7317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-angry-robot-books","tag-lauren-beukes","tag-movies","tag-urban-fantasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n