One of literature’s most decorated living writers is writing a film for one of cinema’s most distinctive visual stylists. Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro has confirmed that he is writing the screenplay for an original film to be directed by Tim Burton — a story the two devised together, rather than an adaptation of one of Ishiguro’s novels.

Ishiguro confirmed the collaboration on Friday (October 16) at the London premiere of Klara and the Sun, the new film adapted from his 2021 novel, a day after the first reports of the project surfaced. He explained that he and Burton came up with the idea together in private and that he is now at work on the script.

A setting in post–Second World War Japan has been reported, but the filmmakers have not revealed a plot, and there is no studio, cast, production timetable or release date attached yet. What is certain is the pairing itself: Ishiguro, whose novels The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go became acclaimed films, is known for making quiet ideas feel enormous, while Burton has spent four decades turning unusual worlds into instantly recognisable cinema.

It is early days — a creative partnership taking shape rather than a film on the calendar — but an original story built from the ground up by these two is one of the most intriguing projects now in development.