No, Martin Scorsese hasn’t decided to switch to only making kids’ films in the wake of Hugo: The Snowman he's now proposing to work on is not the Raymond Briggs classic that has been an animated Christmas telly staple for years. It’s actually a mystery crime novel written by Norwegian Jo Nesbo.
Working Title has the rights to the book, which finds detective Harry Hole investigating a missing persons case in Oslo. When the female victim’s pink scarf is found wrapped around a strange snowman, Hole investigates further and finds evidence that it could be the work of a serial killer.
Matthew Michael Carnahan, who wrote the scripts for State Of Play and the upcoming World War Z, is in talks to tackle the adaptation of the tome, which is actually the seventh in Nesbo’s series about Hole.
Right now, there’s no formal deal on the table for Scorsese, but Variety reports he’s been interested in the title for a while now. And you can see why: frosty Euro-thrillers are white-hot right at the moment, between Wallander, The Killing and David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, among others. Another adaptation of a Nesbo book, Headhunters, screened at the BFI London Film Festival just days ago. Heck, fashion store H&M has even launched a Girl With The Dragon Tattoo-inspired clothing range, which both proves its cutural impact and profoundly misunderstands Liz Salander's ethos.
Chances are if Scorsese does sign on, The Snowman will have to go into Scorsese’s potential projects hopper alongside the likes of Silence (which he’s gearing up to make next), The Irishman and his long- bubbling Sinatra biopic.
Hugo, meanwhile, will hit UK cinemas on December 2.