Coming to local theatres in September this year is the latest adventure-fantasy from visionary director Tim Burton, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Based upon the best-selling novel by Ransom Riggs, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. Jake (Asa Butterfield) finds a magical place when his beloved grandfather leaves him clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times. The residents, looked after by a magical guardian (Eva Green), are children who are not like other people and who could do amazing things. As he gets to know them and learns about their special powers, the mystery and danger deepen. Ultimately, Jake discovers that only his own special "peculiarity" can save his new friends from their terrifying enemies.
Peculiar children who could do amazing things
In the enchanted place where no one could find these peculiar children, Jake meets Emma (Ella Purnell) "who could hold fire in her bare hands as if it was nothing". Based on the novel, also present at the orphanage on a mysterious island are "a little boy whom you couldn't see at all unless he was wearing clothes", "a pair of sisters who could talk to each other without ever saying a word" and "a girl who could walk without her feet even touching ground".
Jake and Emma who can control fireAs much as these peculiar children may seem creepy, as if coming from weird, inexplicable dreams, this alternate realm where they called home is still a world worth exploring.
When I was first approached to direct Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children I was given a summary of the novel with all of the photos in the book. I was immediately intrigued by the haunting and mysterious pictures in Ransom Rigg's novel and knew I wanted to tell the story of those kids. A girl, lighter than air, a boy with bees living in his stomach, a woman who turned into a bird—it was a world I wanted to explore. So I made a film about them.
- Tim Burton
In an interview with Empire, Burton also described the guardian of the peculiar children, Miss Peregrine, as a "weird Mary Poppins like character—a strong and mysterious person who looks like she could turn into a bird." As an ymbryne who can manipulate time and can take the form of a bird, Miss Peregrine protects the children from the monsters called "hollows".
InC-cookie! (Fun fact which you may or may not want to know...)
The names of the guardians derive from birds. In this case, peregrine is a large, crow-sized falcon.
Miss Peregrine the shape-shifting protector
Regarding the upcoming film, the author of the novel, Ransom Riggs shared his thoughts on Tim Burton working on his creation:
For something I wrote to have inspired Tim Burton to create a doodle on a cocktail napkin would have been an honor. But to stand ringside and watch him pour his whole heart into this film -- that has been one of the great thrills of my life. I couldn't be more excited if you attached electrodes to my toes.
- Ransom Riggs, author of the #1 NYT bestselling Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series
Yet another "typically Burtonesque tale of fantasy and intrigue" as Empire puts it, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children opens InCinemas 29 September 2016.