Animorphs Movie In Development

Everything old is new again these days, and another 90s franchise is being restored for a new generation courtesy of Scholastic Entertainment and Picturestart. The franchise of choice is Animorphs, the beloved kids series by author K.A. Applegate that follows five teens who can morph into any animal they touch, and now it is being developed for the big screen (via THR). The film adaptation will be produced by Scholastic Entertainment's Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman and Picturestart's Erik Feig and Lucy Kitada. Friedman and Picturestart's Royce Reeves Darby will be overseeing the script, and Animorphs joins other Scholastic Entertainment adaptations that include Goosebumps (Sony) and Clifford The Big Red Dog (Paramount), which releases later this year.

Animorphs already has more than 35 million books in print, and while there was a television series based on the books in the 90s, this is the first time the series has been adapted into a feature film.

"The central themes of Animorphs have resonated strongly with kids for more than two decades, and the time is right for a feature film that takes this captivating sci-fi adventure to another level for audiences today," said Lucchese. "Picturestart has an incredible track record of success, and Erik and his team are the perfect partners to help bring this exciting new series based on the adventure-packed books to movie screens."

"We couldn't be more excited to work with Scholastic to adapt Animorphs, an iconic book series with a wildly unique combination of exciting, witty, outlandish and grounded elements that feel all too relevant for our times," said Feig. "We know these books have a deservedly deep bench of passionate fans — ourselves included— and we hope to make Katherine Applegate and her co-author, Michael Grant, proud as we bring Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias to life for a new generation."

In addition to the work on the Animorphs film, Scholastic is also releasing a graphic novel adaptation of the series on October 6th through its Scholastic Graphix imprint. The first novel is being adapted by Chris Gine, but for fans of the original interpretations, you will be able to get a Retro Box Tin of the first six books of the series later this year, which also includes the original covers.

Are you excited for an Animorphs film? Let us know in the comments!