Summit finds a writer for book club fave 'Night Circus'

Summit has hired a writer for its adaptation of The Night Circus, a novel that has become popular on the book club scene. One might think that the failure of another historical circus-themed tale, Water for Elephants, would make a studio think twice about venturing into the big tent, but Summit has apparently chosen to move forward. Moira Buffini, who adapted the recent version of Jane Eyre for Focus Features along with Tamara Drewe (directed by Stephen Frears), will write the screenplay.

The Night Circus centers on two young magicians, male and female, who are pitted against each other by their fathers, who are longtime enemies. Instead, they fall in love. The novel is strong in supernatural elements and magical realism, which is considered a good extension of Summit's other supernatural success, Twilight.  Most of the novel takes place during the Victorian era, with forward flashes to the present day.

I took a look at the reviews for The Night Circus on Goodreads, a social-networking site for readers. Some reviewers praised the writing but not the plot, worrisome for books moving to the screen. Conversely, a number of people pointed out that they hated author Erin Morgenstern's use of third-person, present-tense narration, something that wouldn't be a problem with the movie. Still others talked about the intricacy of the story, which they appreciated only after a second reading. That's a good thing for fiction lovers, but it also poses challenges for screenplay adaptations, which are reductive by nature.

This makes me think of the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?, which I liked progressively after my second and third viewings. I could finally see all the subtle foreshadowing and grasp the accelerated speech. Will it be possible to fit all the plot elements of the book into the screenplay?

Finally, I saw some Goodreads critics lament that the characters weren't fully developed. Still, despite the critique of the characters and the plot, wouldn't seeing the magic of a circus translated on screen be utterly captivating? I think the scene of Reese Witherspoon gracefully taming and lying on top of a horse was the best part of the (horrible) Water for Elephants adaptation.

The Night Circus is currently #25 on The New York Times' bestseller list (hardcover fiction). That's certainly not a Twilight level of success, but it still shows a level of awareness and anticipation for what could be an enchanting adaptation.