Khalil Gibran’s best known fictional work The Prophet is being adapted as an animated feature film in a new production. A collaborative international effort, each of the 89-year old book’s chapters will be directed by a different filmmaker. The line-up of contributors includes Mohammed Saeed Harib, the Emirati animator behind the cartoon Freej and Iranian Marjane Satrapi, whose Persepolis was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2007 Academy Awards. Roger Allers, the director of The Lion King, will be responsible for the connective through-line narrative.
Pre-production on the project is scheduled to begin this month. Salma Hayek will produce, along with Clark Peterson and Ron Senkowski. Doha Film Institute (DFI) is co-financing along with Participant Media, MyGroup Lebanon, FFA Private Bank, JRW Entertainment and Code Red Productions.
The rights to the film were obtained by a group led by Steve Hanson of digital agency Hanson, Inc, in an agreement with the Gibran National Committee in B’Sharre, Lebanon, the representative of Gibran’s estate.
The Prophet is one of the best-selling books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies since its original publication in 1923. The Lebanese-born Gibran is believed to be the third most-read poet in history and The Prophet been translated in to more than 40 languages.