by: S. Scott Stanikmas – Senior Staff Writer

Neil Gaiman is a prolific writer, crafting some off-the-wall comics and books in his life, but the man has also written some off-the-wall children’s books as well. The same mind behind the hit Vertigo comic Sandman and the beautiful fantasy novel Stardust was also responsible for Coraline. Now it looks like another of his young adult titles, Fortunately, The Milk, is up for adaptation and it has an all-star crew attached to it.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Edgar Wright would be directing the adaptation and that Johnny Depp would be starring in the film. This isn’t the first time Wright and Depp have tried to dance together, over the years the two have been attached to a big screen version of the Darren McGavin cult-favorite TV show, The Night Stalker.

Wright has directed some of my favorite films of the last decade, including Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim Vs the World. His sensibilities would actually work out quite well with something from the mind of Neil Gaiman. Depp is a chameleon, so no matter what the role calls for I’m gonna go out on a limb and say he’s going to crush it.

Add onto that the news that Bret McKenzie, one half of the New Zealand folk music comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, will be adapting it and you’ve got a pretty impressive lineup bringing this film to life.

The concept of the book is…unique. We’ll turn to Amazon for the official description:

A little boy and his little sister awake one morning, milkless. Their mother is away on business, their father is buried in the paper, and their Toastios are dry. What are young siblings to do? They impress upon their father that his tea is also without milk and sit back to watch their plan take effect. But something goes amiss, and their father doesn’t return and doesn’t return some more. When he does, finally, he has a story to tell, a story involving aliens; pirates; ponies; wumpires (not the handsome, brooding kind); and a stegosaurus professor who pilots a Floaty-Ball-Person-Carrier (which looks suspiciously like a hot-air balloon). There is time travel, treachery, and ample adventure, and, fortunately, the milk he has procured is rescued at every turn.

From the description it’s a safe bet that Depp will be the father whose job it is to get that milk. The film is said to be a hybrid of live-action and animation in the vein of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

No release date or production start was announced, but given the fact that FOX picked this up rather quickly after it made the rounds last week means the studio may want to fast track this and get it underway as soon as possible.