This cult fantasy of the 80s left its mark on an entire generation… 40 years later, a sequel is planned!

A predetermined title? 40 years after Wolfgang Petersen’s iconic film, The Neverending Story returns to cinemas. Get ready to meet Falkor, a friendly 13 meter long dragon!

German author Michael Ende’s novel will once again be adapted for the big screen, so audiences must return to the fantasy world for some live-action featurettes.

After many years of planning, the reset project never saw the light of day due to a lack of satisfactory proposals. See-Saw Films (responsible for Lion, The King’s Speech and Heartstopper) recently bought the rights to adapt the literary work and plans to make a modern adaptation.

First published in 1979, “never ending story“It became a bestseller in Germany and was translated into 45 languages. The work has sold several million copies worldwide. The story tells about Bastien, a ten-year-old boy who is obsessed with adventure novels. One fine day, he steals a wonderful book inhabited by extraordinary creatures. He falls in love with this book. In the fantastic world that fascinates him.

Fiction Wolfgang Petersen Had two film sequels The Neverending Story 2: A New Chapter (1991) and The Neverending Story 3: Return to Fantasia (1994). The novel was also adapted into a TV series: an animated series in 1966 and a 13-episode series in 2001.

A disgruntled author, but a cult film

When Wolfgang Petersen’s film was released in 1984, author Michael Ende expressed displeasure with the adaptation. Entire passages from the 27-month-old book were effectively deleted, and the $27 million film (the most expensive film made in Germany at the time) only includes the first part of the novel. Therefore, the author asked that his name appear only at the end of the circulation and in small print. Michael Ende also requested that the title of the feature film be changed, but to no avail.

But this did not prevent the feature film from becoming a cult film. The medallion, which was used as a symbol of Aurin on the set, was even bought by Steven Spielberg, who placed it under glass in his office!

It should be noted here that the song from the movie “never ending storyBy Limal Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) in the third season of Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things.

A story that never ends because it is eternal?

he asked varietyIan Canning, CEO of See-Saw Films, said of this new adaptation:The story is both relevant and timely and definitely has the potential to be retold. The peculiarity of the novel is that you can re-read it at different ages of your life and find different reading levels. So how wonderful that we have the opportunity to offer you a new perspective that has new layers and meanings. We simply believe that every generation deserves their own trip to Fantasia.“

So the novel lives up to its name, 45 years after its release, this great story of heroic fantasy is coming back to cinema!