‘Little House on the Prairie’ Movie Puts Down Stakes at Paramount

A “Little House on the Prairie” movie is in the works that will bring the television series which originally aired in the 1970s and 80s to the big screen. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the story of the Ingalls family lives on at Paramount Pictures with Durkin still in place to direct.

Variety reported in June that Sony had axed Little House due to concerns about its proposed $45 million budget. But although Hollywood’s ability to embrace the wholesome, kindhearted values of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s tales have wavered over the years, fans’ love for the Minnesota farm family have not.

The “Little House on the Prairie” TV series, loosely based on author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic children’s book series of the same name, debuted in 1974 and ran for nine seasons.

With Paramount now behind the film, Scott Rudin (Steve Jobs, The Grand Budapest Hotel) remains onboard as the producer of the Little House on the Prairie movie with a script by Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady). His credits include “Martha Marcy May Marlene”. The show’s title refers to the third book in the series, which has remained continuously in print since it was first published beginning in the 1930s.

It’s unknown which cast might take up home on the pioneer farmstead, with Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert playing father and daughter in the wholesome original.