When I was a kid there were few books that I loved as much as Lois Lowry's The Giver. Seriously, I made something like 20 dioramas using scenes from that book. A winner of multiple awards, including the 1994 Newbery Medal, the book is a great bit of dystopian fiction and even when I was 10 years old I wondered why nobody had ever turned it into a movie. The truth is there have been many attempts that have simply fallen flat. Specifically, producer Nikki Silver and Jeff Bridges have been trying to get Lowry's book on the screen for the last decade, but have been unable to get it done. In 2007 the rights landed at Warner Bros. where it has spent the last few years in development hell, but now Bridges and Silver have them back and are ready to get the movie made.
According to Variety, the duo has set up the project at On Screen Entertainment with Vadim Perelman, best known for writing and directing House of Sand and Fog, writing the screenplay. While the article doesn't mention it specifically, Bridges may be lining himself up for the title role, quoted as saying, "I originally thought of the role of The Giver as a vehicle for my father, the late Lloyd Bridges, however, at 61 years old I feel the time is right for me to do it." Set in a distant future where memories of history have been eradicated and emotions silenced , a twelve year old boy named Jonas learns that he is to be the "Receiver of Memory," the one person in the community who can enlighten decision through experience. Through what he learns, however, he begins to question the society's ways and learns some horrific truths.
As much as I've wanted this film to get made, I do understand why it's taken so long to make the leap to the silver screen. For one thing, the film will likely be almost entirely black-and-white (though it will gain more and more color as the story goes on) and there's some disturbing imagery that might make the material unsuitable for its target audience. It should be mentioned that the book isn't perfect and has some gaping holes, but in the hands of a proper writer and director it could be wonderful.
