Ashley Avis Wins Rights to 'I Never Promised You a Rose Garden'
Avis will direct from her own screenplay and produce with Edward Winters through Winterstone Pictures, capping a decade-long pursuit of the novel.
Ashley Avis has secured the film rights to Joanne Greenberg's novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, according to Deadline. The deal follows a decade-long effort by Avis to obtain the property.
Avis will direct the adaptation from her own screenplay and produce alongside Edward Winters through her Winterstone Pictures banner.
The novel centres on Deborah Blau, a Jewish teenager who retreats into an imagined kingdom and is admitted to Chestnut Lodge, where she forms a bond with psychiatrist Dr. Clara Fried.
Greenberg first published the book in 1964. It previously inspired a 1977 film directed by Anthony Page and starring Kathleen Quinlan, which received an Academy Award nomination.
Avis's recent credits
Avis directed a Disney+ adaptation of Black Beauty starring Kate Winslet and Mackenzie Foy, and made the Critics Choice Award-nominated documentary Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West. She is also developing American Wolf with Appian Way and has set up a reimagining of Wim Wenders' City of Angels at Warner Bros.
Quick answers
Who is directing the new adaptation of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden?
Ashley Avis will direct from her own screenplay and produce alongside Edward Winters through Winterstone Pictures.
What is I Never Promised You a Rose Garden about?
It follows Deborah Blau, a Jewish teenager who retreats into an imagined kingdom and is admitted to Chestnut Lodge, where she bonds with psychiatrist Dr. Clara Fried.
Was the novel adapted before?
Yes. Joanne Greenberg's 1964 novel inspired a 1977 film directed by Anthony Page and starring Kathleen Quinlan, which received an Academy Award nomination.