By Michaela Gordoni
An ANIMORPHS series, based off of the popular book series by K.A. Applegate, is in early development at Disney+.
Bayan Wolcott will write and executive produce. Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler will executive producing on behalf of Proximity Media. Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman will executive produce through Scholastic, Variety reported.
The official logline reads that the series “follows a group of teenagers who uncover a hidden threat lurking beneath their everyday lives, all while juggling relationships, curfews, and the chaos of High School.”
In the books, five teens — Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel and Tobias — find out that the earth is being taken over by aliens called the Yeerks. The teens encounter a dying alien of the Andalite race, the Yeerks’ enemies. The Andalite gives them the ability to morph into any animal they touch. They use the power to fight against the Yeerks.
There are 54 books in the series, which were written from 1996-2001. They sold over 35 million copies across the world.
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A live-action ANIMORPHS series aired on Nickelodeon between 1998 and 2000. It starred Shawn Ashmore, Brooke Nevin, Boris Cabrera, Nadia Nascimento, Christopher Ralph, Paulo Costanzo and Eugene Lipinski. There was an ANIMORPHS movie in development in 2020, but the project was abandoned.
Coogler is also involved in a reboot for THE X-Files, which stars Himesh Patel and Danielle Deadwyler.
In 2016, Applegate said her books are “creepy and mind-bending,”
“But what we think cemented fan loyalty was that we were clearly not talking down to them or taking it easy on them,” she said of readers. “We used the premise to talk about big things with kids and we think they appreciated that. And then we’d have a fight between an alien and a kid-turned-tiger, and seriously, how is that not cool?”
Gizmodo reported that it is unclear if Applegate will be involved in the new series. Her social media is silent on the subject.
On May 6, there will be brand new covers for the first three books in the Animorphs series. There are also Animorphs video games and graphic novels. The series turns 30 in June.
Applegate shared about the series last year, “Idiot teenagers with a death wish. ❤️ #Animorphs turns 29 years old this month. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for reading and for keeping this series alive. Never could have imagined this love and support when we cooked this idea up. (Next to a dumpster in Florida, incidentally.)”
It’s unclear when the TV series will come out.
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