There’s been a lot of indie interest in the upcoming animated adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s best-selling book The Prophet. The intriguing pic, which is being produced by Salma Hayek and her Ventanarose shingle, is going forward with a screenplay by Roger Allers (The Lion King), who is also directing two chapters of the story, according to Deadline.com.
Other chapters will be directed by Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis), Chris Landreth (Ryan), Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells), Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues), Mohammed Saeed Harib (Freej), Michal Socha, Francesco Testa, Joan Gratz (Oscar winner for Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase) and Bill Plympton (Guard Dog, Your Face).
Deadline also reports that Participant Media, Doha Film Institute, MyGroup Lebanon, FFA Private Bank, JRW Entertainment and Code Red Productions help finance the ambitious project.
Gibran’s The Prophet, is a collection of 26 poetic essays written by the Lebanese American writer, which was published in 1923. It centers on a prophet who has lived in the city of Orphalese for 12 years and is about to board a ship to go back home, but he’s stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses important issues about the human experience.