Netflix, Forest Whitaker Team for 'Hello, Universe' Movie Based on Novel

The film will be adapted from Erin Entrada Kelly's best-selling novel of the same name.

Netflix is teaming with Forest Whitaker to produce a live-action family movie, Hello, Universe, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Erin Entrada Kelly.

Screenwriter Michael Golamco will adapt the book, while Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi of Significant Productions will produce the pic. Hello, Universe will portray a bully’s antics, landing a timid boy in the bottom of a well, followed by a self-proclaimed psychic friend and unknowing crush joining forces to find him.

Kelly’s novel tells intertwining stories of two boys and two girls as it celebrates bravery and finding your inner bayani, or hero.

Hello, Universe joins Netflix’s expanding slate of live-action family movies, which include the upcoming comedy Tall Girl, directed by Nzingha Stewar, and A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting, helmed by Rachel Talalay. The streaming giant has looked to bring more family-friendly films and TV shows, both animated and live-action, to its subscribers globally. Netflix's family fare also aims to make the digital platform more competitive against rival streamers like Hulu and Amazon, in addition to Walt Disney as it pulls its own content from Netflix and gets set to launch a family-skewing streaming platform, Disney+.