Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale is finally heading to the big screen, Deadline reports.
Hannah’s novel, published by St. Martin's in 2015, follows two sisters living in France during the Nazi occupation; one is forced to live with a German officer, while the other joins the Resistance. A critic for Kirkus called the bestselling book “a respectful and absorbing page-turner.”
A film adaptation of the novel has been in the works since 2015 and gone through several false starts. Dakota and Elle Fanning were announced as stars of the movie in 2019, and the film was scheduled to start filming in 2020 but was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The adaptation then languished until this year.
The film will still star the Fanning sisters, and it will be written by Dana Stevens (Fatherhood, The Woman King) and directed by Michael Morris (To Leslie, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy). Producers of the film include the Fanning sisters and Reese Witherspoon.
Hannah announced news of the film on Instagram, writing, “This has been a long time coming and I know that fans of the book are more than ready to get the news! The whole process has been a reminder that faith and commitment and passion for a project can ultimately move mountains. We’ve made it through a worldwide pandemic and two strikes and yet here we are, poised to begin!!!”
The Nightingale is scheduled for release on February 12, 2027.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
