Martin Scorsese Films Adaptation Of ‘The Invention Of Hugo Cabret’

“How do you classify a book in which neither the text nor the pictures alone tell the whole story?” asked the U.S. press, when the young adult novel “Die Entdeckung des Hugo Cabret” (“The Invention of Hugo Cabret”) by Brian Selznick was published in 2007. It created an immediate stir because the acclaimed illustrator Selznick tells the adventures of the orphaned boy Hugo in his own way, above all through impressive black and white drawings, which together account for a third of the book and give the you impression that you are sitting in a movie theater following a thrilling movie with bated breath: Moonlight falls on a scene in Paris, then the “camera” introduces a railroad station at daybreak as a boy sneaks through a secret passage, up to a peephole through which he watches an old man at a toy stand. Only Then does the first text begin.

How ideal for a movie, the famous director Martin Scorsese probably thought, before deciding to film the work in 3D. “I think Martin Scorsese is the greatest living director, and know that he is an excellent film historian and scholar,” says Selznick. “And precisely because ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’ is about movie history, he can direct my novel and illustrations in a way that no one else can – and all in 3D.” According to Selznick, Scorsese's 10-year-old daughter Francesca was the one who first got excited about his book. “She certainly played a part in getting Martin involved in making ‘Hugo Cabret,’” the author believes.

Not only the renowned Oscar winner Scorsese, but also the all-star cast – Jude Law, Sir Ben Kingsley, Christopher Lee, Sacha Baron Cohen – raise hopes of the movie becoming a cinematic highlight. “Hugo Cabret” opens in U.S. theaters on Nov 23 and can be seen in German movie theaters from Feb 2, 2012.

This is bound to please Selznick’s German publisher CBJ, who first published the novel in 2008, winning nominations for the 2008 Max and Moritz Prize in the graphic literature category and the “ Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis” (German Youth Literature Award). On Jan 16, shortly before the movie is released in Germany, CBJ will publish “Hugo Cabret – Der Film,” the movie tie-in edition. It contains interviews with all key members of the crew and the actors, an exclusive interview with Martin Scorsese, biographies of all the stars, an insight into the creation of the closing scene, as well as extensive material on the history of cinema and excerpts from the original book.

Hugo Cabret is an orphan, thief and keeper of clocks. But above all else, he is invisible. Hugo lives in the 1930s, hidden between the walls of a Paris railroad station. No one knows about his hiding place, where he can observe everything without being seen. Until one day he attracts the attention of a curious girl and her cantankerous grandfather. All of a sudden everything Hugo has kept so carefully hidden is in danger: The mysterious drawing, the lovingly kept notebook and the mechanical man. These things are clues to his fascinating secret ...