"Kung Fu Panda" director Mark Osborne is tackling animated adaptation of cult comic "Bone" for Warner Bros. He will helm and executive produce it, which the studio is planning as a trilogy.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Artemis Fowl" screenwriter Adam Kline has been tapped to co-write the script for "Bone" with Osborne. The moves re-energize it for Warner Bros., which first picked up the rights around 2008.
The "Bone" comics was written by Jeff Smith and first published in 1991 until 2004, Variety reported. It is the Eisner-winning comic series that focused on three Bone cousins, namely, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone.
The "Bone" cousins are all small, bald, and humanlike creatures with big noses. They got separated and are lost in a vast uncharted desert after being run out of Boneville. They wind up in a deep forested valley with an array of strange creatures, which can be wonderful and terrifying.
The "Bone" comics was then rediscovered by a new and more mainstream generation. It is popularized by Scholastic in recent years by releasing them in the graphic novel form. It was previously attached to "Muriel's Wedding" director P.J. Hogan while ABC Family's show "Greek" screenwriter Patrick Sean Smith was writing the script.
"Bone" is executive produced by Mark Bauch of Lin Pictures with Osborne. It is produced by Dan Lin's Lin Pictures with Animal Logic's Zareh Nalbandian, re-teaming after producing "The Lego Movie." The latter franchise has three more movies in the works, starting with "Lego Batman" in February.
Osborne is represented by UTA. He received an Oscar nomination for his 1999 animated short film "More" and for 2008's "Kung Fu Panda," which he co-directed with John Stevenson. The latter earned up to $631 million at the box office and launched a key franchise for DreamWorks Animation.
Osborne's most recent directing gig was for "The Little Prince," released last Aug. 5 by Netflix. The latter is his well-regarded adaptation of the timeless all-ages novel, now angling for another nomination.
Watch the video of Mark Osborne-directed "The Little Prince" official trailer:
