'Age of Miracles' to come to big screen courtesy of director Catherine Hardwicke

Since she launched the incredibly successful Twilight franchise, director Catherine Hardwicke has moved on to more modest pursuits (though the original film itself was quite modest). She directed Red Riding Hood and recently wrapped the thriller Plush, but hasn't had a project as high-profile
as the vampire franchise. However, the director recently signed on to helm an adaptation of The Age of Miracles, a popular novel last year that received multiple mentions on "best" lists, including a recommendation from O: The Oprah Magazine.

The book uses science fiction as an entry point for family drama and a coming-of-age story. Inexplicably, the Earth's rotation starts to slow, elongating the days and nights and leading to gradual changes that upend both how the world functions and the friendships and family of an 11-year-old girl. If Karen Thompson Walker's novel had a film parallel, it would be the indie Another Earth. That movie used a sci-fi concept but then focused on the interpersonal drama. There's also an "Is-the-world-ending?" element that's reminiscent of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, where people look for solace in one another in unusual ways. River Road Entertainment is producing the drama.

It's possible that Hardwicke was selected for the project because she's specialized in works for young adults, but The Age of Miracles is definitely an adult novel that happens to star an 11-year-old girl, at least in the book version. The screenwriter for the project, Seth Lochhead, scripted Hanna, which centers on a young girl who is also an assassin, so it's safe to bet that this project will also keep its adult bent intact. The Age of Miracles is one of the more interesting and unusual books to come out in recent years, and seeing the perils of a slowing world come to life on the big screen will undoubtedly draw plenty of its devoted readers to theatres.