Mister Pip Makes Big Screen

New Zealander Andrew Adamson will direct the film adaptation of Wellington author Lloyd Jones’ award-winning book Mister Pip, with Hugh Laurie, of television drama House to star. Adamson, who’ll direct the project from a script he wrote, plans to start production on Mister Pip next month in New Zealand and Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, where the story is set. Mister Pip centres on an eccentric schoolteacher, played by Laurie, who reads Great Expectations to his class. One pupil, 14-year-old Matilda, begins to imagine character Pip into real-life to help her endure the hardships of her own life. “I read Mister Pip on a transAtlantic flight and, by the time of landing, knew I would make the film,” Adamson said. Adamson was director, executive producer, and scriptwriter for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He also directed Shrek and Shrek 2. Mister Pip was published in 26.