Walt Disney Studios Lands Adaptation Rights to Katherine Rundell Impossible Creatures Fantasy book series for big screen treatments.
Rundell will turn the first two books set in the fictional world of the magical beast-filled Glimouria Archipelago into film scripts under the Disney Live Action banner. She will produce the adaptations alongside creative partner Charles Collier and his Impossible Films banner as part of a first-look development deal with Disney that includes all of the British writer’s current and upcoming literary properties.
“When I read Impossible creatures, I knew it belonged here at Disney. I was immediately drawn to the dynamic world that Katherine imagined and the possibilities of what we could do with this story,” Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, said in a statement Tuesday, as the major studio looks toward potential success with the Rundell book series that Warner Bros. had on the big screen with JK Rowlings’ Harry Potter reserve properties.
The recent Impossible Creatures slice, The poisoned kinghas reached the number one position on the children’s book charts in the UK and US to date, Rundell’s books have sold over four million copies worldwide, and the author is in talks to expand the Impossible Creatures franchise beyond the first five books.
Disney has obtained a theatrical film and ancillary rights to the Impossible creature Series of books set in the world of Gilmouria. “I am absolutely thrilled to join forces with Disney. It is a privilege to write these scripts and develop these first films in the franchise with Charles, my team at Impossible Films, and with the exceptional team at Disney,” Rundell added in his own statement.
“I am especially grateful to Bob Iger, whose enthusiasm after reading the book helped put this collaboration in motion, and to Alan Bergman and David Greenbaum for being incredible partners throughout this process. Our ambition is to build Glimouria and impossible creatures into a spectacular series of films, so that we can entertain and inspire family audiences across the world,” she added.
Rundell is represented by Chalcot Square and RCW.
