Zachary Levi Will Play Harold In Harold And The Purple Crayon & People Are Confused
Will Harold be a full-grown man instead of a 4-year-old?
A classic children’s book is being brought to the big screen in a live-action film starring Chuck actor Zachary Levi. Harold and the Purple Crayon will be coming to theaters this summer, according to a recent Instagram post.
“We about to paint this town PURPLE, y’all!” Levi, 43, wrote via Instagram. “Hittin’ theaters this August! Crayon those calendars!!!”
Levi, who will star as Harold, shared the exciting news alongside two movie posters that gave a first look at the upcoming movie.
“Everything he draws is about to get real,” the first poster reads with an image of a possibly grown-up Harold holding a purple crayon in front of a cityscape.
The film teased that the upcoming movie will have a similar concept to that of the original 1955 book of the same name, which follows Harold as he draws himself an adventure with his magical crayon.
In addition to Levi, Harold and the Purple Crayon is set to include Zooey Deschanel, Lil Rey Howery, Ravi Patel, Jemaine Clement, Camille Guaty, Tanya Reynolds, and Pete Gardner.
This won’t be the first time Harold and his story have been used in other Hollywood projects.
In 1959, the original story was turned into a seven-minute animated short by Brandon Films.
From 2001-2022, Harold and the Purple Crayon was also a children’s television series on HBO, which was narrated by Sharon Stone.
The plot of the original children’s book follows 4-year-old Harold as he embarks on a magical journey with the help of his magic purple crayon, which brings everything he draws to life.
In the feature film, Harold will not be a 4-year-old, but rather, a middle-aged man. This got people on X (formally known as Twitter) talking.
“why is Harold 57,” one user wrote.
“Harold is about a child, not a full-grown man,” another said.
One user wrote, “Perhaps you should’ve hired a child actor for the book that’s entirely about an infant with a purple crayon? This looks like some Nickelodeon straight to TV movie.”
“They couldn’t just animate the movie?” another asked.
One X user theorized, “Is this meant to be Harold timeskip and he found his purple crayon many years later ?”
Interestingly enough, on March 11, 2022, a Broadway musical adaptation of the book was announced with an original score by Jack and Ryan Met from the band AJR. The plot centers around an adult version of Harold facing challenges in everyday life without his magical purple crayon. The musical appears to still be in development.
The live-action Harold and the Purple Crayon hit theaters on Aug. 2, 2024.
