Walt Disney Studios has nabbed the adaptation rights to Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures fantasy book series for big screen treatments.
Rundell will turn the first two books set in the fictional world of the Glimouria Archipelago filled with magical beasts into movie screenplays under the Disney Live Action banner. She will produce the adaptations alongside creative partner Charles Collier and her 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 into the vibrant world Katherine imagined and the possibilities of what we could do together with this story,” Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement on Tuesday as the major studio looks to potential success with the Rundell’s book series that Warner Bros. had on the big screen with J.K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter book properties.
The recent Impossible Creatures installment, The Poisoned King, reached the top position on children’s book charts in both the U.K. and U.S. 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 an initial five books.
Disney secured theatrical film and ancillary rights to the Impossible Creature book series set in the world of Gilmouria. “I’m absolutely thrilled to be linking arms with Disney. It’s a privilege to be writing these screenplays and developing these first movies in the franchise together with Charles, my team at Impossible Films, and with the exceptional team at Disney,” Rundell added in her own statement.
“I’m especially grateful to Bob Iger, whose enthusiasm after reading the book helped set 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.