Heated Auction for Movie Rights to Fantasy ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ (Exclusive)

A spirited book auction sparked Monday evening for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, a fantasy novel from author Ransom Riggs.

APA and Heroes and Villains rep the book and author while CAA is repping the publisher. The project hit all the studios Monday with producers each carving out a “territory” to pitch–DreamWorks/Disney (Mark Gordon Co.), Fox (Chernin Entertainment), MGM and New Line (ContraFilm), Paramount (Brad Weston), Sony (Original Film), Universal (Barry Josephson) and Warner Bros.(Roy Lee) .

Insiders say that Fox has already made a big pre-emptive bid for the project, with more likely to follow on Tuesday.

The book doesn’t hit stores until June 7 but it’s already drawing movie buzz, with studio execs hailing its combination of super powers, dark humor, spooky tone and heart. 

The story centers on a boy who grows up enraptured by his grandfather’s tale of an island of monsters and kids with powers. When his grandfather is killed, the now-16-year old boy finds himself on the island, exploring the ruins of an abandoned orphanage and discovering that the stories he heard were not only true, but only he can help stop the remaining hidden children – living in a time loop - from creatures who would destroy them.

The book comes with creepy black-and-white photographs of some of the kids that help tell the story.

Riggs is no stranger to Hollywood. While the Florida-raised author studied English lit at Kenyon College, he attended USC film school. He now mixes his time writing books, shooting shorts and penning a blog.

We'll see what Tuesday brings.

Email: Borys.Kit@thr.com