Drew Goddard to pen script for children’s fantasy Nevermoor

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Jessica Townsend's "Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow" is set to hit the shelves on October 31st, but Twentieth Century Fox snagged the rights to the children's fantasy book last year, and, according to THR, have snagged Drew Goddard (THE MARTIAN, CABIN IN THE WOODS) to pen the script and produce the film.

The book follows a girl by the name of Morrigan Crow, who was unfortunate enough to be born on an unlucky day, thus, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks. This curse also means that she is doomed to die on her eleventh birthday. Before that day, Crow is found by Jupiter North, a man who jets her off to a magical city named Nevermoor, where she can escape her fate, but only if she can beat out hundreds of other children in a set of dangerous trials and join an organization named the Wundrous Society.

In addition to NEVERMOOR, Drew Goddard has several major projects on the horizon, including writing and directing BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE, a crime-thriller starring Jeff Bridges and Chris Hemsworth set in the 1960's at "a run-down hotel near California’s Lake Tahoe named the El Royale and centers on a cast of characters whose own shady agendas will violently collide." Goddard is also set to write and direct X-FORCE, an X-MEN spin-off which will revolve around Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Cable (Josh Brolin) leading a Black Ops force of down and dirty mutant warriors who are far more ruthless than their X-Men counterparts.

A synopsis of "Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow" via Amazon:

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.