It was an almost all-consuming excitement.
When Brandon Mull completed and published his first novel, “Fablehaven,” nearly 20 years ago, the thrill of releasing it occupied so much of his mental space that it left little room to think beyond its immediate success — or its greater potential.
A “Fablehaven” movie — currently in the making — lingered in the back of his mind but was secondary to the experience of becoming a published author. Mull wrote the middle-grade fantasy novel with publication in mind, not a film adaptation.
Between a school appearance and an evening book signing, Mull spoke with the Deseret News in a recent phone interview while on tour for his newest series, “Guardians,” which he believes may be his best work yet, even among the dozens of books he’s published in his career.
“I knew it was possible. ... But back then, that was the first novel I’d ever written,” Mull said. “I knew it might be a movie. I knew it had that potential, but I was just so excited for it to get published, that that’s where my focus was.”
Within the first few months of its 2006 release, “Fablehaven” gained strong traction and continued to build momentum, eventually selling over 3.5 million copies and landing on The New York Times bestseller list.
He rounded out “Fablehaven” as a five-book series, each of which reached the top of The New York Times bestseller list, earned numerous awards and have been translated into more than 30 languages, giving the series global appeal.
Now, two decades after first building the massive “Fablehaven” fanbase, it’s getting the movie treatment.
‘A windy path’
During its early months on shelves, the fantasy adventure caught Hollywood’s attention.
“Fablehaven” follows two siblings, Kendra and Seth, who discover that their grandparents’ estate is actually a hidden preserve for magical creatures — some harmless, others dangerous.
The Utah-based author began receiving interest from filmmakers looking to adapt the novel for the screen, prompting him to ask Orson Scott Card, the bestselling author of “Ender’s Game,” for advice. Card helped Mull find a book-to-film agent to manage the inquiries.
Interest from Hollywood led Mull to begin visualizing “Fablehaven” as a film. But the path to getting there proved to be a bumpy one.
In 2007, “Fablehaven” was optioned for the first time — a process in which a filmmaker pays to temporarily hold the rights to a book while developing it, after which the rights revert back to the author if the project falls through.
The novel was optioned several times, typically leaving Mull with little say in the direction of the adaptation as filmmakers took creative control, often straying from the core message of the book. During these periods, Mull said, he felt it was a blessing when the projects fell through.
But a pattern emerged. Over and over, Mull would option the rights only to return to him two years later.
“One thing that surprised me (about the process) was just how many times I had false starts. The times it looked like it was maybe going to get made and then it didn’t work out,” Mull said. “That’s pretty commonplace in Hollywood, that you’ll have like false starts like that. But I just didn’t know that much when I first started because I was new to the game.”
“Trying to get a movie made, it’s just a windy path ... the amount of work that has to go into that process is more than I had suspected,” he added.
Across nearly 20 years of playing hot potato with the film rights to “Fablehaven,” Mull has become a well-established author — landing 19 books on The New York Times bestseller list. He has remained busy — and never actively sought out a film adaptation.
He reflected on how he now shifts between multiple hats — author and film consultant. The rights to “Fablehaven” have officially been sold to an eager group of filmmakers, and Mull has been involved in the process as a paid consultant on the project.
Mull doesn’t want to get ahead of himself, but he feels enthusiastic about the developing adaptation.
“They’ve got a really strong screenplay,” Mull said. “The upcoming film is in the hands of people that are trying to really do a good job ... if they can just execute that script, they will be telling a really good story that captures most of what’s important about ‘Fablehaven.’”
How ‘Fablehaven’ found its director
Seven years ago, Cameron Sawyer was recommended “Fablehaven” as his next read. Sawyer had never heard of the book series, but read it anyway.
“I ... was absolutely blown away with how cinematic and fun the book was,” Sawyer said. “I could see the movie in my head.”
Sawyer had recently graduated from film school at Chapman University. As a student, he’d found success making short films aimed at younger audiences. He was searching for his next project, and a “Fablehaven” adaptation fit seamlessly into his wheelhouse.
With his producing partner, Christian Busath, Sawyer wrote a speculative screenplay. It took a few months to complete, and once finished, they landed a lunch meeting with Mull in 2018.
Mull loved the screenplay. And he trusted “Fablehaven” in the hands of Sawyer.
“(Sawyer) had written a smart and faithful screenplay,” Mull said. “I saw a screenplay that to me felt like a faithful adaptation of the book that showed a good understanding of the characters, a good understanding of the basic key points of the story — I was like, ‘OK, this might be the guy.’”
“And then working with him, that was reinforced by the fact that he seemed to have a lot of integrity and a lot of willingness to collaborate with me.”
The adaptation was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Mull re-optioned the rights to Sawyer as he worked to develop the project. Post-pandemic, the project regained momentum, secured distribution and Sawyer bought the rights — choosing to keep Mull involved as a paid consultant.
On the heels of the pandemic, Angel, the Utah-based film studio, experienced tremendous growth and became hungry for new projects. Sawyer connected with Angel and secured the company as the “Fablehaven” distributer.
“We could not be happier to have Angel as a distribution partner. They’re really great marketers and they can get us into a ton of things. ... We expect to be in thousands of theaters around the country,” Sawyer said.
“Angel gives us the autonomy to make the movie the way we want to make it, so we like that. We also like their focus on the family. And bringing stories that have light and hope into the world,” he continued. “And on top of that, they’re a Utah company, and we want to keep as much of this production in Utah as possible.”
One of the recent and toughest challenges has been raising money for the production. Under Angel’s model, filmmakers are responsible for producing films independently, often securing financial support through investors or crowdfunding.
Early on, several high net worth individuals came forward with financial commitments to get the film through production, Sawyer said, but mobilizing funds to complete post-production has been a “pretty big lift.”
To get funding across the finish line, Sawyer launched a Backerkit — a platform that helps creators to collect public pledges, sell merchandise and manage backer rewards (like T-shirts and plushies) after crowdfunding campaigns.
Almost immediately, the response to the Backerkit campaign was overwhelming. After roughly a month, the project closed with over 6,000 backers who contributed more than $1.13 million to help bring the “Fablehaven” adaptation to life.
“It’s a testament to how rabid the fan base is,” Sawyer said, referring to the Backerkit response.
Though not directly involved in the Backerkit campaign, Mull said he feels shy about fans contributing their money to the film, though seeing the level of support has been “gratifying.”
The tremendous outpouring of fan excitement and support for the adaptation raises the stakes, placing greater pressure on Sawyer to deliver.
“Now that we have so much support and backing and investment from the fans ... it’s given me more wind in my sails to really do a good job on this movie and to get something special made,” Sawyer said.
Creating ‘Fablehaven’
Production on “Fablehaven” is already underway — and it’s had little trouble attracting attention.
An open audition call for the roles of the leading kids, Kendra and Seth, drew more than 4,000 submissions, many of which impressed Sawyer and his team. They are hoping to discover new talent for the roles as they sift through an extensive pool of candidates.
Sawyer said they are looking for kids who embody the right look and persona, but above all, the most impressive talent.
Once they narrow the submissions to their top choices, they will rely on the help of Victoria Burrows, a Hollywood veteran who did casting for “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and producer Ted Field, whose credits include the “Jumanji” films and dozens more. Together, they will help guide Sawyer in making the final casting decisions.
Several more Hollywood heavyweights and seasoned actors have joined the project, and Sawyer believes the level of talent involved will significantly elevate the film.
“I’m blown away with some of the people ... some of the filmmakers that have come on board to help us with this project,” Sawyer said.
“One of the most satisfying things for me on this project is how it’s not just a job for the people that have come on board,” he continued. “Everybody’s going the extra mile that has come on board, and it’s just impressing the heck out of me. It’s because of what Brandon Mull has built. It’s this series that people have loved for decades.”
Adapting a several-hundred-page novel into a roughly 100-page screenplay requires production design to carry much of the storytelling weight. To streamline, some nonessential moments have been cut.
Mull’s guidance in this process has been essential. Oftentimes, authors have no role in a film adaptation, but as a paid consultant on “Fablehaven,” Mull is able to collaborate with and help guide the filmmakers.
Across five years, he went through several iterations of the screenplay with filmmakers, steering them when the adaptation strayed from essential elements or introduced contradictions, and offering suggestions on how to resolve them.
Mull has also weighed in to make sure the film captures the tone of the book, and helps guide world-building within the story he created — down to details like which creatures the characters would and would not associate with.
Working with Sawyer stands out to Mull, because “he’s so willing to collaborate and so willing to listen,” Mull said, adding, “If I see anything that looks really bad, he’s so open to talking about it and that feels awesome.”
Sawyer also plans to work with local Utah talent and film at least 90% of “Fablehaven” in Utah — the same place where the book series began and one of its hottest fan hubs. Location scouting is still in its early stages, but Sawyer has several sites in mind to bring the fantasy world to life.
“There’s just so much talent here,” Sawyer said. “Utah just has this burgeoning artistic community and so many talented filmmakers live here that we’re just very excited to film right here in Utah and to show the world what we can do.”
Building a film juggernaut
Sawyer’s longterm goal is to adapt all five “Fablehaven” novels into films. Achieving that depends heavily on making a strong first impression.
If the first film bombs, “We’ve lost them,” Sawyer said, adding, “It’s really important that we get it right on this first movie.”
He continued, “That’s why we’ve taken real special care to plan and to take several years of preproduction development to make the script good and to have all the visuals be right. Because if we can do it justice on this first one, it will buy us the heat to make several films.”
Sawyer compared the potential of the “Fablehaven” films to the success of the “Twilight” series, the first of which was made independently on a comparable budget and has since become a multibillion-dollar franchise.
The next hurdle in the preproduction is finalizing the cast and scheduling filming, which Sawyer aims to begin this fall, with a targeted release of 2027.
“Movies are a way for us to connect as a society and really special stories like ‘Fablehaven’ can make the world a better place,” Sawyer said. “If it can touch people’s hearts and encourage them to be better people, that’s almost a sacred responsibility, and I take that very seriously.”