‘Momo’: Michael Ende’s Fantasy Novel Getting Big-Canvas English-Language Adaptation From ‘The Wave’ Producer Rat Pack & ‘How To Be Single’ Director Christian Ditter
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: Momo, one of the best-loved works by The Neverending Story scribe Michael Ende, is getting a big-canvas, English-language screen adaption from leading German producer Christian Becker (The Wave, Fuck You, Goethe) and bilingual writer-director Christian Ditter (How To Be Single).
The ambitious feature version of Ende’s popular fantasy novel will chart the story of the eponymous Momo, an orphan girl who must do battle with the soulless and otherworldly ‘grey men’ who stealthily take over her city and steal time.
Ende’s book has long been considered a critique of consumerism, stress and unfeeling individualism, themes that should strongly resonate in a contemporary context.
Published in more than 40 languages, this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the book’s first publication and producers are hoping to begin filmmaking towards the end of 2023. “For almost 35 years it was impossible to make a new adaptation of Momo,” explains Becker, who spent years with Ditter trying to disentangle the rights from Ende’s estate and other stakeholders such as Beta Film, which owned the remake rights to the last film adaptation, a 1986 German-language version which featured John Huston in his last on screen role. “Momo is one of Michael Ende’s most successful books,” adds Ditter who has scripted the adaptation and will direct. “Everyone of our generation in Germany has read it.
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