Haifaa Al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia‘s first female filmmaker, is adapting the popular young adult novel The Selection into a Netflix film. The Selection written by Kiera Cass centers on America Singer, a young girl in a dystopian future where she and dozens of other women are relocated to a place and compete for a prince’s affections. The Novel was a critical success that spawned four spin-offs.
The film will be executive produced by Margaret French Issac, with Denise Di Novi and Pouya Shahbazian serving as executive producers. Netflix confirmed the news to IndieWire but casting and release dates are still unknown.
“I am thrilled to be working with the brilliant Haifaa Al-Mansour and our friends at Netflix in this special film,” Shahbazain said in a statement. “Having worked on some high profile book adaptations I have never seen fervor and passion that ‘Ther Selection’ fans have the adaption of Kiera Cass’ book series to film. The upcoming film marks Al-Mansour’s second Netflix project she previously directed Nappily Ever After, 2018 romantic comedy for the streaming service.
Al-Mansour gained traction in the United States in 2012 with Wadja, a film that received an Indie Spirit nomination for best feature. Wadja was the first movie filmed entirely in Saudi Arabia. She also directed Mary Shelley and The Perfect Candidate, the latter of which received a favorable from IndieWire’s Eric Kohn last year.
Now that Al-Mansour film maker has been confirmed as director nearly decade-long wait for an adaption of The Selection be nearing its end. The Selection was previously in development as a television series at the CW but plans for that project were killed in 2013. Warner Bros won the film rights two years later and Novi and Shahbazian were revealed as producers in 2018.
