Izzard takes fairy film role
Cross-dressing comic Eddie Izzard is to star in a screen version of a children’s classic – as a fairy.
He is voicing the part of It, the 8,000-year-old sand fairy in an adaptation of E Nesbitt’s magical story Five Children And It.
Also starring in the film are Kenneth Branagh, Zoe Wanamaker and Tara Fitzgerald.
The movie has landed £2.1 million of lottery investment, through the UK Film Council’s Premiere Fund.
Producers hope it will land be a big hit for audiences of all ages in the wake of family successes such as the Harry Potter films.
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, whose hits have included Babe and 101 Dalmations, will help create the magical world in which five youngsters dig up a fairy who will make their dreams come true.
The film will be a combination of live action, animatronics and computer generated animation.
