Warner Bros. acquires rights to “Harry Potter set in space”

In a bold move by Warner Bros., they acquired the movie rights to a young adult sci-fi novel that hasn't even been released yet. The book is Dan Krokos' The Planet Thieves, and Warner Bros. listed the description as:

The book focuses on a young space cadet who finds himself caught in the middle of Earth's struggle to survive. His ship is attacked by an alien race bent on gaining control of a weapon they're carrying on board.

We've seen the whole 'aliens trying to destroy Earth' thing before, but it's really hard to get a firm grasp on the story from this description. Who knows what the character is like? According to Deadline, the story was pitched to Warner Bros. as "Harry Potter set in space." Considering the studio had a lot of success with the Harry Potter series, I see the draw. I still think it's a risk making a movie of a book when no one knows if the book will be a hit among readers and have a large audience. But I guess it doesn't hurt to at least have the rights to it.

Author Dan Krokos has also written False Memory — published by Disney Hyperion — if you're interested in what he writes like. It's gotten positive reviews on Amazon, and it's also been optioned for a potential TV series.

Who knows if The Planet Thieves will be the next Harry Potter, Hunger Games, or even Twilight (if it has a romantic element and a strong female love interest), or if it'll stink it up like the Eragon film.

You can follow Movies and Culture Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ

[Source: Cinemablend and Deadline]