Ellen to Produce Naomi Novik Novel

Ellen DeGeneres is known for many things, but her foray into feature filmmaking is quite new. Still the comedienne and television host is known for successful entertainment undertakings and there’s no reason to think her latest project won’t be a winner.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. “won a heated bidding war for the movie rights to Uprooted, the new fantasy novel from Hugo Award-nominated Naomi Novik, the author behind the dragon-laced Temeraire books.”

DeGeneres will produce with Jeff Kleeman, her partner at A Very Good Production. Apparently, it was Kleeman who “identified the book and brought it to DeGeneres.”

Uprooted (Del Rey) was released on May 21, “Novik taps into her Polish roots to tell a YA story with tendrils in fairy and folk tales.”

The plot centers on a young woman named Agnieszka, who lives near the border of an evil wood, with only a wizard named Dragon who seems to keep the danger at bay. The price for the man’s protection is that a woman from the village is sent to serve him for 10 years, and to everyone’s surprise, the rather plain Agnieszka is selected. Thus the adventurous journey begins.

You can see the full piece here.