Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy walked the New York premiere of The Magic Faraway Tree on Wednesday night, reuniting on screen nearly a decade after they starred together in the 2017 film Breathe The Hollywood Reporter.

The film adapts Enid Blyton's 1940s children's novel trilogy — specifically the second story in the Faraway series, which follows three siblings who move to the English countryside and discover a magical tree populated by fantastical inhabitants. Garfield plays Tim, Foy plays Polly, and the two are the parents of those three children: Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Joe (Phoenix Laroche), and Fran (Billie Gadsdon).

It is Garfield's first family film, and the actor shared the premiere stage with director Ben Gregor, who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the production's old-school approach. The Land of Goodies set was made edible, Gregor said, so the child actors could literally eat it — practical filmmaking over digital effects.

Screenwriter Simon Farnaby, whose credits include Paddington 2, wrote the script. Gregor told The Hollywood Reporter that Farnaby made the story relevant by blending modern-day children with the values and adventures of Blyton's original work. In this adaptation, the family's move from the city is set in motion when Polly, an electronic engineer, quits her job rather than work on a data-collecting smart fridge.

The cast also includes Nicola Coughlan, confirmed by the BBC in March 2026 BBC News, Rebecca Ferguson, whose casting was reported by The Hollywood Reporter in November 2025 The Hollywood Reporter, and Jennifer Saunders, who joined the production during filming in August 2024 The Hollywood Reporter.

Vertical is producing and distributing the film, which was built by an independent financing and production chain. Neal Street Productions, Elysian Film Group, and Ashland Hill Media Finance are the production companies behind it. Entertainment Film Distributors secured the UK distribution deal in September 2024, and Palisades Park Pictures handled key international sales at the American Film Market — the AFM being a Los Angeles trade fair where sales agents and buyers trade rights to films heading to screens.

A trailer for the film was released in late June 2026, with coverage by BroadwayWorld BroadwayWorld. Reuters published a video interview with Foy and Gadsdon in April 2026 Reuters.

What makes this project stand out is the collision of pedigrees. Blyton's Faraway books have sold in enormous numbers for the better part of a century but have never received a major film treatment. Farnaby's screenplay work on Paddington 2 — widely regarded as one of the finest family films of its era — gives the source material a writer who understands how to honour a beloved property without freezing it in amber. For Garfield, whose career has swung between prestige drama and blockbuster superhero roles, a children's film is new territory. For audiences who grew up with the books, the wait for the tree to reach a screen is nearly over.