EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures has set Jon Croker (High In The Clouds) to adapt anticipated fantasy novel series Skandar And The Unicorn Thief, which was acquired by Simon and Schuster and Sony in seven-figure deals last year.
The first book in author A.F Steadman’s series, which is set to launch in spring 2022, follows a thirteen-year-old boy whose dreams of becoming a unicorn rider are disrupted when an emerging enemy steals the land’s most powerful unicorn.
The publishing deal, made by Simon & Schuster Children’s UK and Simon & Schuster U.S., was the biggest known deal for a children’s debut. Sony preemptively acquired the feature rights with their own aggressive offer.
Drew Reed and Jake Bauman were key in landing that deal and Peter Kang has been overseeing the project for Sony Pictures.
Croker is best known for scripting The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death and Paul McCartney’s upcoming Netflix animation High In The Clouds. He most recently wrote No One Gets Out Alive with Andy Serkis’ The Imaginarium producing and is working on Bad Robot’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse.
The Brit scribe contributed additional material on box office smashes Paddington 1 and Paddington 2 and on Bart Layton’s American Animals, and was a development co-ordinator on Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald.
He is represented by CAA, Grandview, Independent Talent Group, and Jackoway Austen.
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