In 1955, Crockett Johnson wrote Harold and the Purple Crayon, a picture book about a young boy using the titular crayon to create a world of his own simply by drawing it. Almost seventy years later, Sony Pictures has released the first posters for their film adaptation of the book, which is currently set to hit theaters on August 2. There’s no limit to what Harold can create with the Purple Crayon, and the friendships he’ll create along the way will make his journey a wholesome adventure for the whole family.
In the movie directed by Carlos Saldanha, Zachary Levi, known for his years spent as the superhero named Shazam!, will portray an adult version of the titular role from the novel, as seen in the new posters for the adaptation. Zooey Deschanel, Lil Rel Howery and Jemaine Clement will round out the cast of Harold and the Purple Crayon, setting the stage for an adventure filled with imagination, color and bringing a world of fantasy to life in the modern day.
Saldanha has spent most of his career directing animated projects, making the upcoming Harold and the Purple Crayon adaptation his live-action directorial debut. The filmmaker directed Ferdinand, another children’s book adaptation that focused on a bull voiced by John Cena, as the character tries to find a peaceful life for himself. Before that, Saldanha directed both Rio and Rio 2, the colorful stories about a Spix’s macaw voiced by Jesse Eisenberg finding himself in an entirely different country after being smuggled through the black market.
Harold Across the Years
Everything he draws is about to get real. #HaroldAndThePurpleCrayon is exclusively in movie theaters this August. pic.twitter.com/MnHMKJzSOL
— Harold and the Purple Crayon (@HaroldMovie) March 13, 2024
The latest adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon will allow a new generation to know the character and his peculiar journey, but the movie directed by Carlos Saldanha won’t be the first time Harold makes the jump from the page to the screen. In 2001, Sharon Stone narrated a television adaptation of the book that was aired on HBO, with each episode providing Harold with an important life lesson. The series won a Daytime Emmy Award, and while previous attempts to bring the story to the big screen weren’t successful, the upcoming movie is ready to fill multiplexes with the magic of Harold and the Purple Crayon.
You can check out the new posters for Harold and the Purple Crayon above, before the movie premieres in theaters on August 2.
via Collider