By Katie Kohler

Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli’s 2000 New York Times Bestselling and award-winning young adult novel, will finally make it to the screen. It will be one of the first original films for Disney’s upcoming streaming service, which is set to launch in late 2019.

Julia Hart (Fast Color) will direct the adaptation of the Young Adult novel. Deadline.com reports that “Hart just finished polishing the script with her partner Jordan Horowitz (who is the executive producer) from the screen adaptation by Kristin Hahn.”

“I’ve been happily welcomed into the loop, especially with Hahn. I like her screenplay. She’s invited my suggestions and incorporated them,” said Spinelli in an interview with MONTCO.Today.

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Grace VanderWaal, who won America’s Got Talent in 2016 by wowing judges and audiences with her ukulele and original songs, landed the title role. According to Deadline.com, she beat out 700 other girls. For VanderWaall, 14, it will mark her acting debut.  The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lee Stollman in association with Hahn’s Hahnscape Entertainment are producing Stargirl. The movie will shoot in Albuquerque and in parts of Arizona with principal photography starting in September.

The character Stargirl is inspired by Spinelli’s wife, Eileen. Spinelli said he knew VanderWaal was screen testing for the role and he was, “rooting for her.” He called it a “happy coincidence” that VanderWaal became a star playing the ukulele, which is the same instrument Stargirl, and Spinelli, played.

“I played in my younger days. It’s too strong to say I played it. I had it. I strummed it. It’s an interesting full-circle,” said Spinelli, a Norristown native.

For faithful fans of Stargirl, nearly two decades may seem like a long wait. However, Spinelli started working on the novel in 1966.

“I had it in my head and was making notes,” he said.

Since its 2000 release, Spinelli says, “it’s been a parade of near misses with various studios, directors and actors.” He recalled a phone conversation with Dakota Fanning and then Taylor Swift saying it was her favorite book and she wanted to play the role.

“Now it looks like it’s finally going to happen. Sometimes a popular book will show up as a film in the next year, and other times, it takes a couple of decades. You never know,” said Spinelli. “It’s interesting to see your work come out in a different format. It’s a new offspring of the story.”

In August 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced it agreed to acquire majority ownership of BAMTech, LLC and will launch its ESPN-branded multi-sport video streaming service in 2018, followed by a new Disney-branded direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019. The new Disney-branded service will become the exclusive home in the U.S. for subscription-video-on demand viewing of the newest live action and animated movies from Disney and Pixar, beginning with the 2019 theatrical slate which includes Toy Story 4, the sequel to Frozen, and The Lion King from Disney live-action among others. Disney will also make a significant investment in an annual slate of original movies, including Stargirl, TV shows, short-form content, and other Disney-branded exclusives for the service. Additionally, the service will feature a vast collection of library content including Disney and Pixar movies and Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD television programming.

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