Billy Elliot‘s Lee Hall to Adapt Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse Novel for the Screen

Billy Elliot screenwriter and Tony Award-winning book writer Lee Hall will adapt Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel for the screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Stephen Spielberg is one of the producers of the film.

Morpurgo’s book tells the epic tale of a friendship between a boy and a horse, who are separated, but whose fates continue to be intertwined over the course of World War I. The book was a runner-up for the Whitbread Award.

War Horse has been previously adapted by Nick Stafford, who wrote the stage version of the piece that has been a hit for the Royal National Theatre. This Olivier Award winning production continues to run at the West End’s New London Theatre.