It’s not clear what role Levi will play in the Sony Pictures adaptation, as he’s at least a couple of years older than the protagonist, Harold. Levi has played a kid in an adult body before, however (see:
Shazam!), so maybe it’s not out of the realm of possibility. And Harold would seem to be the only starring character from the original source material, though Johnson wrote five other books in the series as well. Or, in the realm of complete speculation, perhaps Levi is taking on the role of the purple crayon itself, transforming Harold’s magical drawing instrument into some live-action version of Microsoft’s discontinued Clippy.
Shazam! and Tangled star Zachary Levi is about to bring another family-friendly tale to life. On Monday, it was announced (via The Hollywood Reporter) that Levi will be starring in Sony s live-action adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon. Levi s exact role in the project, which is based on [.]
Zachary Levi has been tapped to star in a movie adaptation of
Harold and the Purple Crayon.
THR reports that the -year-old actor is attached for the project which is being penned by
David Guion and
Harold and the Purple Crayon was originally published in 1955 by Crockett Johnson and is about a four-year-old who, with the power of his crayon, created worlds around him.
The book inspired six more books just like that.
Harold has been sought after by many Hollywood studios, with Sony Pictures finally getting it into development.
Zachary has been a hot commodity lately, as he’s now attached to projects, including
Dolemite is My Name, is attached to produce.
Johnson’s book centers on a creative four-year-old who, armed with a purple crayon, begins sketching out a reality around him, drawing landscapes and creatures and methods of transportation and eventually, trying to return home so he can fall asleep. The story was adapted into a seven minute short film in 1959, which was the sole directorial credit for actor
David Piel and was narrated by
Norman Rose, whose deep, clear voice served him well in narrator and announcer roles throughout his career. Check out that short below:
Obviously Guion and Handelman are going to have to significantly build out the story to make it feature length, but with this premise, the possibilities are endless. And it’s been expanded before: in the early 2000s, HBO turned it into a 13-episode miniseries narrated by Sharon Stone. I’m assuming Zachary Levi will be voicing the narrator in this version, but maybe he could be the inner voice of Harold or some