Disney Legend Robert Downey Jr. could be working with the House of Mouse once more. Rumor has it he is being eyed by Disney to lead their big-screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.
Marc Forster, who directed the underrated live-action Winnie The Pooh film Christopher Robin is on board to helm the film. Forster’s producing partner Renée Wolfe will produce through their 2Dux2 banner along with Gil Netter. Ben Browning is also producing. David Magee was recently tapped to adapt the script. Forster, Wolfe, and Disney reportedly had a wonderful working relationship during Christopher Robin.
Published in 2008, The Graveyard Book traces the story of the boy Nobody “Bod” Owens who is adopted and reared by the supernatural occupants of a graveyard after his family is brutally murdered.
If rumors are true, Downey Jr. would likely be playing Silas, a vampire, and Bod’s guardian. He is reserved in speaking, protective, compassionate, and understanding.
Gaiman won both the British Carnegie Medal. and the American Newbery Medal recognizing the year’s best children’s books, the first time both named the same work. The Graveyard Book also won the annual Hugo Award for Best Novel from the World Science Fiction Convention and Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book selected by Locus magazine subscribers.
Robert Downey Jr.’s work with Disney includes playing Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Studios films between 2008 and 2019. He also portrayed Dr. Kozak in the 2006 adaptation of The Shaggy Dog. He will next be seen in Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated pic Oppenheimer.
