MIYAZAKI TO ADAPT URSULA K. LE GUIN?

Twitch has the news first posted on the Anime News Network that Japan's master animator, Hayao Miyazaki, may adapt Ursula K. Le Guin's EARTHSEA books as his next movie, specifically the first book, WIZARD OF EARTHSEA. An anonymous editor at a Japanese publisher has reported that a producer linked to Studio Ghibli was looking into the film rights for the books, and Miyazaki has said he's a fan of these books in the past.

WIZARD OF EARTHSEA was a Sci Fi channel miniseries this year with Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang from SMALLVILLE), Danny Glover and Isabella Rossellini. Sci Fi claims it was a big hit, but the biggest noise the poorly reviewed series received was when Ursula K. Le Guin came out against it online. Saying that she intended the characters in all her books to be non-white, she claimed that Sci Fi had "whitewashed" her book and turned it into a "generic McMagic movie". Sci Fi gave the canned response that changes had been made in turning a book into a movie, but they ignored the crux of her concern which was the race of the cast.

After this experience you'd think she'd be reluctant to stick her face in the fan again, but maybe Miyazaki's name is enough to win her over?