Paramount Wins the Cannes Bidding War for Florence Pugh’s ‘The Midnight Library’ in the Market’s Biggest Deal
Matt Haig’s beloved novel has long been considered one of those properties that feels almost impossible to adapt without the right combination of sensitivity, imagination, and star power. With Florence Pugh now confirmed as its lead and a high-profile studio deal sealed fresh out of Cannes, ‘The Midnight Library’ is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated literary adaptations in years.
The novel, first published in 2020, has sold 15 million copies and been translated into 56 languages, giving the film a global built-in fanbase before a single frame is shot. Studiocanal and Blueprint Pictures, who first optioned the book that same year, have attached Garth Davis to direct from a screenplay by Olivier Award winner Laura Wade and Tony nominee Nick Payne.
In the fantasy drama, Pugh will play Nora Seed, a woman who finds herself in a library between life and death with the chance to experience all the potential lives she could have lived. The project carries the ambitious descriptor of a “love letter to life,” and with a production budget in the range of roughly $70 million, it signals that everyone involved is swinging for a major cinematic event rather than a modest prestige piece.
Paramount beat out Focus and Sony, who were both circling the project, to acquire North American and select foreign market rights for $36 million, making it the biggest deal to emerge from this year’s Cannes market. StudioCanal will retain rights across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Benelux, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, mirroring the kind of territory split the European studio previously structured on ‘Paddington In Peru’.
The reunion at the heart of this project is itself a significant talking point. Davis previously directed Pugh in the upcoming Netflix series ‘East of Eden’, based on the John Steinbeck novel, and his enthusiasm for bringing her back for this project is unmistakable. In an official statement via Deadline, Davis said, “I couldn’t be more excited to reunite with Florence Pugh on ‘The Midnight Library’. Her warmth and talent are magical, and together I know we’ll do something special working with Matt’s iconic novel. This is a story that moves us both, a celebration of life in all its possibility and complexity.”
Haig himself will serve as executive producer alongside the producing team, and he responded to the news by saying he is “so happy that Nora’s story is in such great hands.” Producers on the film include Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Anita Overland, and Pugh herself, who is also on board as a producer.
The plan is to begin pre-production this fall, with principal photography expected to commence at the start of next year. With Paramount now firmly in the driver’s seat for North America and StudioCanal commanding the territories where the novel is arguably most beloved, the commercial logic behind the split makes sense, even if some observers will be watching closely to see how a story so rooted in quiet introspection translates to the kind of scale that justifies that price tag.
Given how passionately readers have connected with Nora Seed’s journey over the past five years, the question of whether this creative team can do the novel justice is one that fans are already debating fiercely, so share your thoughts on whether Florence Pugh is the Nora Seed you always imagined stepping into that library.
