Everyone in Hollywood is looking for the next Harry Potter. With the magical franchise having already made over $5 billion at the box office, and huge amounts more in DVD, TV and merchadising rights, it’s so lucrative that everybody wants to find the next thing that can tap into that market. Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (Transformers) thinks he may have found it, with a book about someone who’s even mentioned in the first Harry Potter book (and film), Nicholas Flamel.
According to Variety, Di Bonaventura, who was instrumental in getting the Potter films off the ground when he worked at Warner, has bought the rights to Michael Scott’s six-part fantasy series, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. The rights were previously owned by New Line, but they let them lapse, allowing Di Boneventura to step in.
While Flamel is mentioned in Harry Potter, the books have nothing to do with Hogwarts, except that like J.K. Rowling, it suggests that real-life French alchemist Nicholas Flamel succeeded in finding the philosopher’s stone and achieving immortality. The book follow teenage twins, Sophie and Josh, who go off on fantastical adventures across the world with Flamel. So far, the first three of the six planned books have been published, which ensure there’s plenty of room for a franchise if the first film is a success.
It may be a smart move to try a childredn’s fantasy with a character who’s already known to Harry Potter fans, as while every wants to find the next big chidren’s fantasy film, so far the many attempts have yielded few genuine successes.