Warner Bros. Picks Up Graphic Novel 'Bolivar' for Animated Movie (Exclusive)

Warner Bros. has picked up Bolivar, an upcoming graphic novel from publisher Archaia Entertainment, for Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster to produce via their Weed Road banner. Archaia editor-in-chief Stephen Christy will also produce.

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Archaia’s P.J. Bickett will exec produce.

Bolivar comes with Irish filmmaker Kealan O’Rourke attached to write and direct the project, which is intended to be an animated feature.

Written and illustrated by Sean Rubin, the graphic novel centres on a young girl named Sybil who moves to New York and finds out her neighbor is Bolivar, the last living dinosaur.  Despite Sybil's persistent efforts, Bolivar refuses to befriend her.

The dinosaur is somewhat of a recluse, tucked away from the world Sybil so desperately wants him to explore with her.  He soon realizes how much she means to him and that he would risk everything for her.

The graphic novel is due out in May 2013.

O’Rourke won a best animation prize for The Boy in the Bubble at last year’s Irish Film and Television Awards. He is repped by Paradigm and 3 Arts Entertainment.

Archaia, repped by CAA, is an LA-based and Eisner-winning publisher slowly making in-roads into movies. An adaptation of its graphic novel Rust is set up at Fox with Simon Kinberg producing and Aline Brosh McKenna writing while Lucid is being developed by Zachary Quinto's Before the Door production company.

Weed Road is developing the adaptation of Lone Survivor, which just received financing from Emmett/Furla, and is in the casting stage for A Winter’s Tale, a supernatural romantic story that is serving as Goldsman’s directorial debut.

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