Tony Winner Dennis Kelly to Pen Screenplay for New Matilda Movie Musical Adaptation

Matilda could be putting her books down and heading to the movies! Tony winner Dennis Kelly, who wrote the book for the musical, has been tapped to adapt the show for the big screen, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail. However, Matilda fans will have to wait until 2019, at the earliest, to see the hit tuner on the silver screen, due to contract stipulations that prohibit any film version appearing within six years of the musical's opening on Broadway.

Director Matthew Warchus also revealed that composer Tim Minchin might contribute some new songs for the movie. "It'll be different from what we did on stage," Warchus told the Mail, "Matilda's imagination lends itself very much to film. We can open up her amazing acrobat stories. And there will be the conundrum of trying to capture the naughtiness and anarchy of the stage version."

Roald Dahl's beloved book was previously adapted into a non-musical film by Danny DeVito in 1996, starring Mara Wilson as Matilda Wormwood, DeVito and Rhea Perlman as Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood and Pam Ferris as Miss Trunchbull.

Matilda continues its run at the Shubert Theatre starring Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro in the title role, Jill Paice as Miss Honey, Chris Hoch as Miss Trunchbull, Looks Not Books video blogger Lesli Margherita as Miss Wormwood, Tony winner Gabriel Ebert as Mr. Wormwood and Karen Aldridge as Mrs. Phelps.