Book-into-Movie Alchemy

“The universe conspires to help you when you really want something.” Twenty years ago, that’s what Laurence Fishburne gleaned from Paul Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist. Soon, the cosmic conspiracy will produce a movie version of the bestselling book.

The author and the actor chatted about adaptation on a live radio show this week. During the interview, Fishburne recounted the film’s long, strange journey towards adaptation. Even a bestselling no-brainer blockbuster idea like this one required twenty years of effort, including: trips to the Middle East, the Cannes Festival, and most importantly, the Weinstein Company’s offices.

The whole show was hosted by the Authors on Air website, a podcast series that has an upcoming interview Ann Patchett and an archived chat with Neal Stephenson. The interview was organized by HarperOne, the spirituality and personal improvement imprint at HarperCollins.

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