Allen & Unwin is thrilled to announce Helen Brown’s NZ-based New York Times bestselling book, CLEO: How a small black cat helped heal a family, will be made into a major feature film by South Pacific Pictures.

John Barnett, chief executive of South Pacific Pictures, says, “we are delighted to be working with Helen Brown on the screen adaptation of ‘Cleo’. We think it’s an uplifting tale with tons of heart. At its core is a story that reaches people of all ages, in every country, and that is the first step to creating a successful film.”

Helen Brown says, “I’m thrilled the movie will be made in New Zealand where our story began.”

The film is scheduled to go into pre-production by the end of 2011.

CLEO was first published in September 2009 and has gone on to sell over 15,000 copies in New Zealand. The paperback edition (pictured) was published 1 September 2010.