Animorphs TV series in development at Disney+ with Ryan Coogler set to produce
Variety reports that an Animorphs TV series is in early development at Disney+, with Ryan Coogler set to produce. I don’t recall ever reading any of the Animorphs books, but those distinctive covers have been burned into my mind thanks to their constant presence at Scholastic book fairs.
Animorphs
Animorphs was a series of YA novels by Katherine Applegate and her husband, Michael Grant (who wrote together under the name K.A. Applegate), which revolved around five teenagers, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, who had the ability to morph into any animal they touched and used their powers to fight a secret alien invasion of Earth. The series spanned over 50 novels from 1996 to 2001 and was hugely popular at the time.
The official logline for the new TV series says it “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.“
Bayan Wolcott (The Testaments) is attached to write and executive-produce the series, which will be executive-produced by Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Zinzi Coogler on behalf of Proximity Media. There was previously a Canadian-produced TV series which ran for two seasons from 1998 to 2000. A feature film was also in the works in 2020, but it didn’t move forward.
The X-Files
Animorphs isn’t the only TV project with which Coogler is involved, as he’s also writing and directing the pilot for The X-Files reboot. The new show is set to star Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson) and Himesh Patel (Yesterday) as two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents who form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.
Gillian Anderson, who played Dana Scully in the original series, recently said she’s read the pilot script, and it’s “really good.“
“I would say, have an open mind and give it a chance because it’s gonna be f*cking cool,” she said. “It’s something different. It’s different, and it’s special, so give it a break.” There have been hints that Anderson could return for the reboot in some capacity, but nothing official has been announced.
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