RELEASE DATES
(from imdb.com)
Toronto Film Festival (September 11, 2004)
Netherlands (January 13, 2005)
UK (October 15, 2004-Scotland Only/October 22, 2004-Everywhere Else)
France (October 20, 2004)
Belgium (October 20, 2004)
Spain (December 17, 2004)

FIVE CHILDREN AT THE HEARTLAND

Five Children and It will be screened at the Heartland Film Fesival in Indianapolis on October 14-20th. SCREENING TIMES AND MORE INFO.

FIVE CHILDREN WINS A BAFTA

Congratulations to composer Jane Antonia Cornish for winning the Anthony Asquith Award for Best New British Composer, for Five Children and It.

FIVE CHILDREN AT THE 2005 JACKSONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL

Five Children will be shown May 22nd at 1pm at the Florida Theatre. Ticket and more info HERE.

FIVE CHILDREN AND IT AT THE 2005 TRIBECA FILM FEST

Five Children and It will screen at the TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL:

Sun, Apr 24 / 3:15pm Regal Battery Park Theater 1 $10.00
Fri, Apr 29 / 1:00pm Regal Battery Park Theater 5 $10.00
Sun, May 1 / 3:45pm Regal Battery Park Theater 9 $10.00

Ticket and other info can be found at their site. (thanks Teri)

FIVE CHILDREN SCREENING

The USA Film festival will be showing Five Children and It as part of the 21st Annual KidFilm Festival. The screening is on Saturday the 22nd of January at 12:30pm.

Tickets go on sale the morning of the screening at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas, Texas. Advanced sales of tickets are available for groups only. OFFICIAL SITE HERE

After 5 children, there is an Aardman animation screening! Film makers will not be in attendance for 5 Children and It. (thanks Monkey)

FIVE CHILDREN COMING TO DVD/VIDEO

Five Children and It has a DVD/Video (region 2/PAL only) release date of March 21, 2005. You can pre-order it HERE. (thanks Beth)

FIVE CHILDREN TO SCREEN IN OUTDOOR VENUE IN DUBAI

Four crowd-pleasing films from around the world will be screened at a giant outdoor theatre being created at Dubai Media City as part of the brand new Dubai International Film Festival, DIFF organizers announced yesterday.

The selected films are a mix of contemporary and classic, slapstick and adventure, with the 1962 blockbuster Lawrence of Arabia leading the pack. Audiences will also see Shekhar Kapur's romantic comedy drama Mr. India; the Tagalog Gagamboy (Spiderman), a Filipino take on the Marvel comic book hero; and Five Children and It, the new special effects-loaded family adventure film starring Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Izzard.

The Dubai International Film Festival will be held between December 6 and 11, 2004, and will feature approximately 80 films including 55 features as well as retrospectives and short films. The festival is divided into 10 distinct programs, each focusing on a particular festival theme. The Festival is presented by Dubai Media City, with presenting sponsors Emirates, Jumeirah International, Nakheel and Dubai Duty Free.

Eddie's Five Children and It Q&A

IT Plushie Toy!

You can now own an IT plushie toy and more

Press Release
October 11 2004

Anything can happen if you believe in IT…

FIVE CHILDREN & IT tells the story of a group of children sent away to stay with their uncle in a strange and dilapidated mansion by the sea. While exploring they dig up an 8,000 year old sand-fairy that is prepared to make their wildest dreams come true… at a price. FIVE CHILDREN & IT is an action-packed summer adventure that blends magic, fun and perilous exploits, and proves that the power of wishes isn't as strong as the power of family.

Award-winning stand-up comedian and actor EDDIE IZZARD ("The Cat's Meow", "Shadow of the Vampire") is the voice of 'It', the cranky Psammead, the main child (Robert) is played by FREDDIE HIGHMORE who will soon appear on screen in the title role of Peter Pan in "JM Barrie's "Finding Neverland", with KENNETH BRANAGH ("Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", "Rabbit-Proof Fence") as the eccentric Uncle and ZOE WANAMAKER ("Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone", "Wilde" and TV's "My Family") as Martha, the friendly but crazy housekeeper. Other cast includes TARA FITZGERALD ("I Capture the Castle"), JOHN SESSIONS ("Gangs of New York") and ALEX JENNINGS ("The Wings of the Dove").

FIVE CHILDREN & IT is a Capitol Films project in association with Endgame Entertainment (US), the Isle of Man Film Commission and the UK Film Council's Premiere Fund. This magical world is brought to life by Jim Henson's Creature Shop™ ("Babe", "101 Dalmations", and "Cats and Dogs") using a combination of animatronics, live action and CGI. The producers are Nick Hirschkorn and Lisa Henson, the director is John Stephenson ("Animal Farm") from a screenplay by David Solomons.

FIVE CHILDREN & IT is being distributed by Pathé Distribution and will open on October 15th in Scotland and October 22nd elsewhere.

Would you believe It? Psammead gets Muppet make-over
SUSIE MAGUIRE October 11 2004

Five Children and It – or five children and ET? A film version of Edith Nesbit's enchanting novel has just been made, and on the front cover of the tie-in edition, It, aka the Psammead – an ancient "sand-fairy" – bears something of a resemblance to the squat little alien who phoned home.

Designed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the cinematic Psammead has a lumpy, scaly body, gnarly paws and big eyes, features of a prehistoric reptile-cum-walrus with a touch of Donald Sinden about the whiskers, rather than as described in the novel. "The children stood round the hole in a ring, looking at the creature they had found. It was worth looking at. Its eyes were on long horns like a snail's eyes, and it could move them in and out like telescopes; it had ears like a bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a spider's and covered with thick, soft fur; its legs and arms were furry too, and it had hands and feet like a monkey's."

Cyril, Jane, Robert, Anthea – or Panther – and the Lamb, their two-year-old brother, are on holiday in the country. While happily digging to Australia in a local sand-pit, they disturb the "Sammyad", who is capable of granting wishes, though he is by nature a rather grumpy character, and somewhat literal. In the past, he tells them, people wanted simple things, "a Megatherium, ready jointed for cooking. It was as big as an elephant, you see, so there was a good deal of meat on it. And if they wanted fish, the Ichthyosaurus was asked for." Jane's first wish is that she and her siblings might be "as beautiful as the day", whereupon they spend the entire day wandering around like pre-Raphaelite angels, unrecognised and hungry, hoping that – unlike leftover Megatherium – they won't turn to stone when night falls. Further adventures ensue daily, involving Red Indians determined to take scalps (Robert had been reading The Last of the Mohicans), besieged castles and having wings which get them stuck on top of a church tower at dusk. Edith Nesbit's childhood was an unsettled one. Her father died in 1862, when she was four, and she and her siblings were packed off to various schools. At 19, Nesbit married writer and radical, Hubert Bland. The couple formed a debating society which in 1884 became The Fabian Society. Nesbit lectured on socialism throughout the 1880s, until her prolific output of verses and stories won her success as a children's writer. Before her death, in 1924, she had published 44 novels. First published in 1902, Five Children & It remains charming and funny. J K Rowling is reputed to love Nesbit's books; given the success of her own franchise, and the endearing qualities of Nesbit's returning characters – in The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet – there's potential for a number of film sequels. For this one, "It" will be voiced by Eddie Izzard and other star turns include Kenneth Branagh, Zoë Wanamaker, Tara Fitzgerald and John Sessions. Five Children and It opens in Scotland on October 15.

Five Children at Boston Film Fest
10.10.04

Eddie Izzard plays an irritable sand fairy in "Five Children and It," a live action/animated fantasy from John Stephenson ("Animal Farm") that kicks off the Boston Fantastic Film Festival with a US premiere. The festival, at the Brattle Theatre Thursday through Oct. 18, features new horror, science fiction, fantasy, and cult films from around the world. For information, visit www.brattlefilm.org.

French Official Site Opens
10.05.04

You can now view most of the official site (in French) including the trailer [see links section above].

Special Screenings
09.17.04

Special Preview: Five Children and It An ancient, ill-tempered Psammead, or sand-fairy (voiced by Eddie Izzard), grants a group of children a wish a day that will last until sunset. However, the pressure of coming up with sensible wishes is more difficult than they ever imagined, resulting in mayhem and adventure. Filmed with a combination of live action and animatronics from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, E Nesbit’s classic story promises to reach out again to a new generation. Courtesy of Pathe Distribution. We hope to be able to welcome some of the cast and crew to this screening.

Showing at: NFT1 2.00 Saturday 16 October. More info/tickets HERE.

This year's National Schools Film Week (NSFW) will feature around 900 free UK-wide screenings. Five Children and It will be one of the featured films. It run 11 - 15 October in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 25 - 29 October in Scotland. More info/tickets HERE.

Five Children and It Exclusive Preview 17 October - on main release from 22 October at the KINGSTREET PICTUREHOUSE.

World Premiere of John Stephenson's Five children And It

Directed by John Stephenson, FIVE CHILDREN AND IT has its world premiere this September as a matinee Gala Presentation at the 29th Toronto International Film Festival®. This marks the first year that the Festival will host matinee Gala Presentations, which screen at Roy Thomson Hall.

A dazzling combination of live-action and animation, FIVE CHILDREN AND IT is based on the E. Nesbit classic children’s story of the same name. The film stars Kenneth Branagh, Freddie Highmore, and the voice of Eddie Izzard. Single tickets to matinee Gala Presentations will be sold to VISA cardholders beginning August 28 at 10 a.m. at the year-round Box Office only, located at Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor Street West (main floor, north entrance).

Turn of the century England is the backdrop of John Stephenson’s enchanting tale of five children who make a magical discovery. With their father away at war and their mother nursing the wounded, the Butterworth children are sent to live with their uncle in his old mansion by the sea. Once they arrive, they realize their Uncle Albert (Kenneth Branagh) is an eccentric, the housekeeper is crazy, and their cousin Horace is an evil scientist in-the-making. The Butterworth children begin to fear for their summer.

The children are told by the housekeeper that they are never to enter the greenhouse, but they decide to explore it anyway. They find a secret passageway that leads to a strange beach which, they soon discover is home to a sassy and irritable little creature called "It" (voiced by Eddie Izzard). "It" is an 8000 year-old sand fairy, a Psammead, who informs the children that he is the last of his kind. Lucky for them, "It" agrees to grant them a wish a day.

Of course there is some fine print on those wishes, and "It" takes a devilish sense of delight in magnifying the flaws. So unleashes a series of adventures and misadventures, until the children learn the value of a sensible wish.

Beautifully-shot, and enchanting to the very end, FIVE CHILDREN AND IT is spectacular fun. Directed by John Stephenson, FIVE CHILDREN AND IT is written by David Solomons. The film is produced by Nick Hirschkorn and Lisa Henson. FIVE CHILDREN AND IT is a Capitol Films and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop production, in association with Endgame Entertainment, the Isle of Man Film Commission and UK Film Council.

FIVE CHILDREN WILL PREMIERE AT THE TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL
08.24.04| thanks Maria

Five Children and It will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival September 11, 2004 at 1:30pm. You can get tickets and more information at the OFFICIAL FESTIVAL SITE. It is part of the Viacom Gala Screenings.

FILM STARTS SHOOTING IN KIRK MICHAEL
03 July 2003

FILMING started on Monday for Five Children and It, the £13 million movie starring Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Izzard.

Adapted from Edith Nesbit's classic children's novel, the schedule kicked off at Castletown railway station but the majority of the three and a half week shoot will take place in the Kirk Michael area, in particular Glen Wyllin beach.

The story follows the adventures of five siblings who are sent to stay with their uncle, played by Harry Potter star Branagh, in a strange house by the sea.

While out exploring, they dig up an ill-tempered 8,000-year-old Psammead, or sand fairy, who grants them one wish a day. But what starts out as great fun soon turns into trouble for the youngsters.

The film will blend live action with animatronics and CGI special effects.

The Psammead is being brought to life by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the creator of the Muppet Show, with Izzard providing the voice. Given the Creature Shop's pedigree, there's a real hope this film could be the Island's biggest worldwide commercial box office hit, a title held by Waking Ned.

It's being directed by John Stephenson, who was hired by Henson in 1984 and who still heads the company. Previous films featuring the shop's work include Babe, 101 Dalmations, Dr Doolittle and Cats and Dogs.

The lead character of Robert is being played by 11-year-old Freddie Highmore, who has just completed J. M. Barrie's Neverland opposite Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.

Capitol & Henson Adapting Five Children and It
Tuesday, May 13, 2003 6:38 CDT

Capitol Films is teaming with Jim Henson's Creature Shop to produce Five Children and It, a family adventure film based on Edith Nesbit's classic 1902 novel, says Variety.

Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Izzard and Freddie Highmore (Peter Pan in J.M. Barrie's Neverland) will star in the $20 million movie, to be directed by Creature Shop topper John Stephenson.

It's the story of five siblings who are sent to stay with their uncle (Branagh) in a strange house by the sea. While exploring, they dig up an ill-tempered 8,000-year-old Psammead, or sand fairy, voiced by Izzard, who grants them one wish a day. But the consequences are never quite what the children intend.

The film, which starts shooting in July, will blend live action with animatronics and CGI. The setting will be considerably updated from the book's original period, but it will not be explicitly contemporary. The script is by David Solomon, with Nick Hirschkorn and Lisa Henson producing.

Read the book online HERE.

Endgame puts up coin for 'It' pic
Branagh, Wanamaker, Highmore to star in adaptation
By MICHAEL FLEMING Los Angeles | 07.23.03 |thanks Patsy |(07.01.03 | thanks Rowan)

Jim Stern's Endgame Entertainment has become co-financier of "Five Children and It," an adaptation of the Edith Nesbit novel that just started production.

Endgame will share the cost with U.K.'s Capitol Films and will hold North American distrib rights on the film, which stars Kenneth Branagh, Zoe Wanamaker and Freddie Highmore, with Eddie Izzard providing the voice of creature It.

John Stephenson ("Animal Farm") is directing David Solomon's script, and Lisa Henson and Nick Hirschkorn are producing. Capitol's Sharon Harel and Jane Barclay seeded the production. The film follows the adventures of five London kids during WWI as they are sent to live with an eccentric uncle (Branagh) in his dilapidated mansion by the sea. There the kids encounter a wish-granting sand fairy.

Stern, part owner of the Chicago Bulls and Tony-winning producer of "The Producers" and "Hairspray," said the book's subject matter and script made "Five Children and It" an irresistible investment.

"It is a commercial film with a chance to break out," Stern said. "What it shares with other children's films based on literature that do well is that the heroes are kids who survive through their wits. It's not 'Harry Potter,' but the book was an influence on its author, J.K. Rowling. There is merchandising and DVD potential as well."

Stern wasn't sure if Endgame would make an early U.S. distrib deal or wait until the film is shot. The company also contributed financing for the Artisan pic "Compleat Female Stage Beauty" and the New Line/Senator comedy "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," but those investments were bridge loans.

Engdame will continue to provide financing as it readies the eight homegrown projects it has in development.