Walden Media Options Rights to Award-Winning Author Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence
Marc Platt to produce bestselling children's book seriesMay 5, 2005
LOS ANGELES - Walden Media has secured the rights to Susan Cooper's five-book epic fantasy series known as The Dark Is Rising Sequence, it was announced today by Walden Media CEO Cary Granat. Marc Platt (Legally Blonde, Broadway musical Wicked) will produce the series, beginning with The Dark Is Rising. Executive Vice President of Production Alex Schwartz and Director of Development Evan Turner will oversee the project for Walden Media, and Marc Platt Productions executives Adam Siegel and Jared LeBoff will be shepherding the script for the company.
The Dark Is Rising tells the story of Will Stanton, a boy whose everyday life is turned upside down when he learns that he is the last of the "Old Ones", a group of immortal warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the Dark. As he uncovers a series of mysterious clues, some dating back to the founding of Britain and others going all the way back to biblical times, Will discovers that with the Dark once again rising, the future of the world rests in his hands.
"We are incredibly grateful to Susan Cooper for the opportunity to bring another acclaimed fantasy franchise to the screen," said Granat. "It is an honor that she has entrusted us to translate her vision to film."
"We particularly love that this is the story of a modern day boy who wakes up to find he is pitted in an age old struggle between good and evil," said Schwartz. "Marc Platt and his team have a great vision to convey the epic nature of this story.
The Dark Is Rising Sequence is Walden Media's second major franchise acquisition, following the acquisition of the rights to C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series in 2001. The highly anticipated first film of the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, will be released in partnership with the Walt Disney Company on December 9, 2005. The launch of The Dark Is Rising franchise, together with upcoming Walden Media projects The Chronicles of Narnia and Charlotte's Web, will mark the beginning of an ambitious initiative for the company to expand its comprehensive educational outreach program into European territories.
Marc Platt currently runs Marc Platt Productions, an entertainment company for the production of feature films, television and live theatre based on the Universal Studios lot. Among the films he has produced are Legally Blonde and its sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, The Perfect Man, Honey, and Josie and the Pussycats. Platt recently produced the acclaimed Broadway musical Wicked, which has earned the Grammy(R), 3 Tony Awards(R), 6 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical, 4 Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best Musical, and the 2004 Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Musical. For television, Platt produced an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Empire Falls (HBO) starring Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward; and Once Upon A Mattress (ABC) starring Carol Burnett and Tracey Ullman. Platt served as president of production for three movie studios (Orion, TriStar and Universal), where he guided the production of such films as Silence of the Lambs, Sleepless In Seattle, Philadelphia, As Good As It Gets, My Best Friend's Wedding, Jerry Maguire, Patch Adams, October Sky, The Mummy and American Pie.
First published in 1973, The Dark Is Rising received numerous awards, including the Newbery Honor Award by the American Library Association in 1974 and the Boston Globe Book Award in 1973. It is the second in a series of five books that also includes Over Sea, Under Stone (1965), Greenwitch (1974), The Grey King (1975, winner of the 1976 Newbery Medal) and Silver on the Tree (1977). In addition to the Newbery awards, the books in the series have won numerous other awards, including two Carnegie Honor Awards in Britain and the Tir na n-Og Award of Wales for The Grey King. The Dark Is Rising Sequence has been translated into twelve languages.
