'I Never Promised You a Rose Garden' gets new film adaptation from Ashley Avis

Filmmaker Ashley Avis has secured the film rights to Joanne Greenberg’s 1964 novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden after a decade-long effort and will direct a new adaptation based on her own screenplay.

Avis, known for Disney+’s Black Beauty, will also produce the project alongside Edward Winters through her production company, Winterstone Pictures, according to Deadline.

The novel, inspired by Greenberg’s experiences as a young woman diagnosed with schizophrenia, follows Deborah Blau, a gifted Jewish teenager who retreats into an elaborate imaginary kingdom as she struggles with her mental health.

As Deborah’s connection to reality weakens, she is admitted to Chestnut Lodge, where she develops a complex relationship with Dr. Clara Fried, a German psychiatrist whose own past is marked by unresolved trauma. Their relationship becomes central to a story exploring mental illness, recovery, trauma and the challenges of accepting reality.

Avis described Greenberg’s novel as an intimate and imaginative work that invites readers into Deborah’s fictional world, known as the Kingdom of Yr. She said she was particularly moved by the real-life relationship between the two women who inspired the characters.

The book has sold millions of copies worldwide and previously received a film adaptation in 1977. Directed by Anthony Page, the earlier version starred Kathleen Quinlan and earned an Academy Award nomination.

Avis has built her career around projects exploring relationships between people, animals and the natural world. Her credits include the Disney+ adaptation of Black Beauty, starring Kate Winslet and Mackenzie Foy, and the Critics Choice Award-nominated documentary Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West.

The filmmaker is also developing American Wolf, based on Nate Blakeslee’s book about Yellowstone’s wolves, with Appian Way. Additionally, she has a reimagining of Wim Wenders’ romantic film City of Angels in development at Warner Bros.

Further casting and production details for the new I Never Promised You a Rose Garden adaptation have not been announced.