Ray Bradbury turned 91 on Monday, and his birthday present was the news that Dandelion Wine will be adapted into a film. Deadline.com reported that Mike Medavoy, Doug McKay, Rodion Nahapetov and Natasha Shliapnikoff are producing, with Nahapetov writing the script.
"This is the best birthday gift I could ask for," said Bradbury. "Today, I have been reborn! Dandelion Wine is my most deeply personal work and brings back memories of sheer joy as well as terror. This is the story of me as a young boy and the magic of an unforgettable summer which still holds a mystical power over me."
Nahapetov added that he "was deeply honored when Ray Bradbury chose me to write the screenplay adaptation for his novel Dandelion Wine. When I began my studies at the Cinema Institute in Moscow, many foreign books were banned in Soviet Russia. Still, I decided to make my short film based upon Dandelion Wine because this novel represented to me the childhood I never had. My childhood had been stolen by the ravages and destruction of post World War II Russia and Dandelion Wine restored it back for me."
