European production and distribution group StudioCanal has launched a new label, StudioCanal Stories, focused on book-to-screen adaptations. The outfit will be the first of its kind in France and follows StudioCanal’s creation of a dedicated literary adaptation division in 2022.Unveiling the new label Monday, StudioCanal pointed to the success of book adaptations, citing figures from a study last year by France’s Centre National du Livre (CNL) that found 42 percent of the top 100 most successful films at the U.S. box office were literary adaptations. The figure for France was 44 percent and, according to the study, the production of literary adaptations for French film and TV has jumped nearly 30 percent over the period from 2015 to 2021.StudioCanal is bringing two of its latest adaptations: Gilles Lellouche’s Beating Hearts, an adaptation of Neville Thompson’s 2000 novel Jackie Loves Johnser OK?; and Michel Hazanavicius’ The Most Precious of Cargoes to competition at the Cannes film festival next month.On the TV side, StudioCanal has found success with such book-to-screen adaptations as its update on H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, starring Léa Drucker and Gabriel Byrne, produced for Canal+ and Fox Networks Group and aired on Epix in the U.S.; and Harlan Coben’s The Stranger, made for Netflix.Upcoming StudioCanal literary adaptations include a film version of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library and a TV series based on Dick Bruna’s Miffy preschool books.StudioCanal says it will announce the management board of StudioCanal Stories soon.
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