In a sign of renewed momentum, Wishbone has finally locked in a director (Brandon Camp) to get this feature film adaptation underway. 

Based on MacMillan’s bestselling 2016 middle-grade novel Wish (pictured) by Barbara O’Connor, the pic has been in the works since it was optioned by Mike The Pike Entertainment in 2021. And Joey Clarke Jr. is still attached to write the screenplay.

Camp’s most recent directing credits include a pair of Netflix projects—family movie reboot Benji (2018) and a teen rom-com called Love & Gelato (2022). 

Wishbone‘s premise revolves around an 11-year-old girl who strikes up a friendship with a skinny stray dog while settling into her new life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Demand has remained strong for O’Connor’s book, which consistently occupies a spot on the New York Times top-10 bestselling middle-grade paperbacks list. In fact, it sold roughly 188,756 copies in 2021 alone, according to Publishers Weekly.

Marking the first major update for the film in almost three years, Camp is also producing the pic with Rich Angell and Mark Newbauer on behalf of Mike The Pike, as well as Riverside Entertainment’s Brian Loschiavo and Scott Emmer.