‘Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow’ Set for Musical Adaptation!!

Paramount Pictures has announced that they have acquired the rights to adapt the young adult fantasy novel Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow from Jessica Townsend. The upcoming musical adaptation of the bestselling novel has brought on The Martian and The Cabin in the Woods writer Drew Goddard writing the screenplay. The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey will return to the director’s chair for the upcoming film.

Along with acting as director on the project, Gracey will also be providing original music for the musical adaptation. Goddard will also act as a producer on the movie alongside Sarah Esberg via Goddard Textiles. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow was released in 2017 and was the first entry in what became a trilogy of books, which includes 2018’s Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow and Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow from 2020.

As the names would suggest, the story of the first novel follows Morrigan Crow, a girl born on the unluckiest day and blamed for all the misfortune that befalls the city of Jackalfax. One the day that she is meant to die, she escapes with a man named Jupiter North to the magical city of Nevermoor. There, she has the chance to escape her fate and join the Wundrous Society, an elite group of people that have “remarkable” talents. In order to be accepted into this mysterious society, Morrigan will need to partake in and pass a series of difficult, dangerous trials against hundreds of other exceptional children. There are currently no announced cast members for the upcoming adaptation along with no confirmed release date or release window.

Gracey has done several documentaries focusing on musicians as well as music videos, with his breakout film as a director being The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman, which went on to gross more than $400 million worldwide. With such a focus on music as the center of his pieces, it only makes sense that he would be brought on to direct this musical adaptation of the popular novel. As for Goddard, he has served as a writer on several popular television series and movies such as the previously mentioned The Martian and The Cabin in the Woods, with credits also on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series, Angel, Lost, Cloverfield, World War Z, and Daredevil, which he also created. His most recent film writing credit was for the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale.