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Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti’s new version of Hansel & Gretel has already been optioned for the big screen, courtesy of The Hundred Foot Journey’s Juliet Blake.

This will probably be a live-action film, although no prospective casting has been announced. The book is published in the US in October and by Bloomsbury in December.

According to Gaiman, “I’m thrilled and delighted to be working with Juliet Blake to bring Hansel and Gretel to the world again, and to show people how much this story has to say to us. For me, retelling Hansel and Gretel was a way of telling an old tale in a way that made it immediate and true, and about us, now. It reminds us of how paper thin civilization really is. It’s about hunger, and about families.”

There is considerable interest in Gaiman’s works at the moment. American Gods may hit TV screens by 2016; recent reports indicate that Bryan Fuller is still breaking the story, and hopes that Gaiman will be contributing.