Wicked Book Series at DreamWorks

Press release from Business Wire:

DreamWorks Studios Acquires Rights to Young Adult Book Series “Wicked”

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DreamWorks Studios has acquired the rights to the young adult book series “Wicked” it was announced today by Mark Sourian and Holly Bario, Co-Presidents of Production for the studio. Aaron and Matthew Benay have signed on to write the adaptation based on their own pitch. The Gotham Group will produce.

A New York Times bestselling series and published by Simon & Schuster, “Wicked” is a five book series written by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié. The first two books, “Witch” and “Curse,” were published in 2002, followed by “Legacy” and “Spellbound” in 2003. The fifth book, “Resurrection,” was published this past summer.

Story follows the journey of a young woman who learns she is a descendent of a powerful coven of witches. Complications arise when she falls in love with a boy who turns out to be a member of a rival coven sworn to destroy her family.
“’Wicked’ has all the elements for a great movie--adventure, mystery, star-crossed lovers, bitter enemies, and the supernatural,” said Mark Sourian. “Aaron and Matthew came in with an intriguing take on the books and a story that we feel will really speak to all audiences.”

Aaron and Matthew Benay, who are brothers, wrote the script for “1906,” which Pixar, Warner Brothers, and director Brad Bird are readying for release in 2012.

Best-selling author Nancy Holder has published sixty books and more than two hundred short stories. She has received four Bram Stoker awards for fiction from the Horror Writers Association, and her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. She has written or co-written twenty Buffy and Angel projects based on the characters from the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” film and television series.

Debbie Viguié is author of the Once upon a Time novels “Scarlet Moon” and “Midnight Pearls,” as well as the Sweet Seasons novels “The Summer of Cotton Candy,” “The Fall of Candy Corn,” “The Winter of Candy Canes,” and “The Spring of Candy Apples.”

About DreamWorks Studios
DreamWorks Studios is a motion picture company led by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in partnership with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The new company is a continuation of DreamWorks Studios which was formed in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. The company expects to put into production 5 to 6 films per year.