Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’ to get film adaptation

MANILA, Philippines – A film adaptation of Paulo Coelho’s international best-seller The Alchemist is in the works once again, Deadline reported on Tuesday, October 3. 

The film, television, and ancillary rights of the book have been acquired by Legendary Entertainment. The media company has produced several film adaptations, including Steve Jobs (2015), BlacKkKlansman (2018), and Dune (2021).

Palmstar Media and Sony’s own TriStar Pictures will also develop the film since being attached to the project in 2016.

Jack Thorne is set to write its screenplay and is the only other name associated with the film thus far. Thorne’s writing credits span stage, film, and television. Other film adaptations he has written include Wonder (2017), Radioactive (2019), The Secret Garden (2020), and Legendary’s Enola Holmes films (2020-2022).

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project had been in talks as early as 2008, when it was first attached to The Weinstein Company and Laurence Fishburne. In 2015, Luther actor Idris Elba was being eyed to star in the film.

A year later, Palmstar Media bought the novel’s rights from The Weinstein Company, with TriStar Pictures striking up a deal to help finance the feature film. Westbrook Studios, a production company owned by celebrity couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, was also looking to adapt the novel in 2021, to no avail.

The Alchemist tells the allegorical epic story of an Andalusian shepherd who decides to embark on a quest to the pyramids of Egypt in search of the treasure he has sought in his recurring dreams. 

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist was first published in Portuguese in Brazil in 1988, and was later enjoyed by readers all over the world after it was translated into 53 languages. This landed the Brazilian novelist a Guinness World Record in 2003 for being the most translated work by a living author. – Rappler.com