Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, producers of such adaptations as 9½ Weeks, The Kite Runner and Moneyball, has announced they’ve secured the film rights to the critically acclaimed #1 New York Times bestseller PAX, written by award-winning children’s book author Sara Pennypacker.
Winning out in a highly-competitive bidding situation, SKE will develop and finance the feature adaptation. Released last year, the book is officially described as follows:
“Pax and Peter have been inseparable ever since Peter rescued him as a kit. But one day, the unimaginable happens: Peter’s dad enlists in the military and makes him return the fox to the wild. At his grandfather’s house, three hundred miles away from home, Peter knows he isn’t where he should be—with Pax. He strikes out on his own despite the encroaching war, spurred by love, loyalty, and grief, to be reunited with his fox. Meanwhile Pax, steadfastly waiting for his boy, embarks on adventures and discoveries of his own…”
Pennypacker is the author of 20 children’s books which have received numerous awards and honors, and is best known for her New York Times bestselling series, Clementine, which has more than 1.5 million books in print.
In writing Pax, which means peace in Latin, Pennypacker was moved by reports of children injured, displaced and orphaned by wars around the globe and was inspired to write a novel that explores the devastating costs of war, especially to children, through the eyes of a boy and his pet fox.
SKE President of Production Carla Hacken states: “In its short time in release Sara’s nuanced and poignant novel has resonated with children and adults alike and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to adapt PAX for the big screen. We look forward to having an incredible storyteller like Sara as a partner in this project.”
