One day after Sigourney Weaver joined the cast of A Monster Calls as a young boy's grandmother, Toby Kebbell has signed on to play the distant father in this fantasy thriller.

The story follows said boy, who has not yet been cast, as he tries to escape from the bullies at school and his mother's terminal illness at home by creating an intricate fantasy world. There, he interacts with a massive tree monster. Toby Kebbell's character has a history of not being around for his son, while Felicity Jones is playing the lad's ill mother. Sigourney Weaver is portraying his grandmother, with Liam Neeson starring as the tree monster in the youngster's fantasy world.

Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible, The Orphanage) is directing from a screenplay by Patrick Ness, which he adapted from his own award-winning children's novel of the same name. It isn't known when production may begin at this time.

Toby Kebbell most recently portrayed the ape Koba in 20th Century Fox's summer blockbuster Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and he will next be seen as Dr. Doom in The Fantastic Four reboot, then in Warcraft.