Skydance is moving fast and has big plans for adapting John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice books, a popular young adult fantasy series. Not only does the studio hope the initial live-action film will be the first of a franchise, but they’ve also got Ted Melfi on board to adapt, direct, and produce the movie.
According to Deadline, Melfi—whose deal with the studio is in the “high seven-figures” if the movie makes it to the big screen—will take on the first two novels in the nineteen-book series, The Ruins of Gorlan and The Burning Bridge. Skydance has big hopes the franchise will take off from there and become akin to other successful series that feature a young orphan boy finding his own way in the world (albeit one with less magic, and more gripping medieval adventures).
The series revolves around Will, an orphan who becomes an apprentice to a group of Rangers who protect the Kingdom of Araluen. During his training, he becomes adept at tracking and archery, among other things, befriends a boy named Horace, and is guided by his mentor, Halt.
Other producers on the project besides Melfi include Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger, as well as Kim Quinn. Flanagan will be an executive producer and Matt Grimm will be the point person at Skydance.
“The Ranger’s Apprentice and its focus on a group of orphans trying to figure out their purpose in the world is timeless, touching and cinematic,” Melfi told Deadline. “It’s exciting to have the opportunity to adapt it for the big screen. It’s an honor to be working with David, Dana, Don and Matt and the whole team at Skydance. These folks are truly passionate cinephiles who make movies for the right reasons.”
This isn’t the first time the Flanagan series has been considered for adaptation. In 2008, Warner Bros. had plans to develop a film based on the first book, but that fell through sometime in 2016. As recently as October 2019, Dick Cook Studios also considered adapting it into a television series but that project fell to the wayside during the start of the pandemic.
Hopefully, the third effort will carry through to a movie we’ll get to see on screen. Things are still in the early days, of course, so no news yet on casting or when the project will enter production. Skydance also picked up the option rights to another series by Flanagan, the nine-book series, The Brotherband Chronicles. No news on that front on who will be brought on board to move that project forward.
