Wonderland Sound and Vision has launched development on a biopic about Shel Silverstein, the prolific children’s book author, cartoonist and lyricist.
Wonderland principals McG (pictured) and Mary Viola are producing with Sean Sorensen and Motion Theory’s Mathew Cullen. Writing partners Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair are adapting “A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein” by Lisa Rogak.
Wonderland optioned the material and will be funding development. Wonderland’s Nathan Stadler will oversee the project.
The project marks the fourth time that Wonderland has worked with Shafer and Vicknair, most recently on “1:30 Train,” starring Chris Evans and Alice Eve in what was Wonderland’s first in-house financed film.
“A Boy Named Shel” explores the personal and professional struggles that made Silverstein, who died in 1999, a unique voice. Silverstein’s resume includes best-selling books such as “The Giving Tree,” poetry collections “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic,” chart-topping songs such as Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue” and Dr. Hook’s “The Cover of Rolling Stone”; and memorable illustrations.
Wonderland is in production for CBS Films’ “The DUFF,” starring Mae Whitman, Bella Thorne, Allison Janney and Ken Jeong and awaiting the release of “A Many Splintered Thing,” written by Shafer and Vicknair and starring Chris Evans and Michelle Monaghan.
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Shafer and Vicknair also wrote the remake of “Kokowaah” for Warner Bros., which has Bradley Cooper attached. McG most recently directed “Three Days to Kill” and the Warner Bros. pilot “The Mysteries of Laura,” starring Debra Messing, which was recently picked up by NBC.
McG is repped by WME and Management 360. Shafer and Vicknair are repped by UTA and Brillstein. Lisa Rogak is repped by Scott Mendel at Mendel Media Group.
