"After a decade-long effort to secure the film rights" to Joanne Greenberg's 1964 novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Ashley Avis (Disney+'s Black Beauty) has done so, Deadline reported.
Calling the book "one of the most arresting and authentic explorations of mental illness ever written," Avis will direct from her own script and produce alongside Edward Winters through her Winterstone Pictures production company. The novel has sold millions of copies worldwide and previously inspired the 1977 film directed by Anthony Page and starring Kathleen Quinlan.
"Joanne Greenberg crafted a story that is at once deeply intimate and breathtakingly imaginative, because it is courageously personal," Avis said. "She invites us into the Kingdom of Yr, into all of its seduction, and beauty along with its violence--and we will question, along with Deborah, whether it is possible to give it up."
Avis added that what moved her most "was the true story tucked between the pages of Rose Garden; the relationship between two very real women who inspired these characters. Deborah Blau and Dr. Fried become mirrors for one another as they navigate darkness, trauma, healing, and the question of what it means to truly live in, and accept, reality."