Writer-director Tim McCanlies will adapt Piers Anthony's fantasy classic "A Spell for Chameleon" into a live-action feature that Wolfgang Petersen and David Benioff are producing for Warner Bros. Pictures.

"Chameleon," which was first published in 1977, made Anthony into a brand-name writer in the fantasy-sci fi world. It grew into a line of 30 books known collectively as the Xanth Development. "Chameleon," the first book in the series, focuses on Bink, a young man who is without magical powers on Xanth, a world where everyone has some sort of powers. Bink will be exiled if he cannot manifest his own magical skills.

"This is a challenging adaptation because Piers Anthony created such a rich and detailed world with Xanth," Petersen said. "We're thrilled to have Tim bring his imagination and experience to the task of transporting that world to the screen."

Said Benioff, "Tim is a remarkable screenwriter who can both tell a compelling adventure story and people that story with well-drawn, immensely sympathetic characters. Tim's screenplay for 'The Iron Giant' is an unsung classic."

Petersen is producing via his Radiant Prods. banner. Radiant's Diana Rathbun also is producing while the company's Samuel Dickerman is exec producing.

Courtenay Valenti and Geoff Shaevitz are overseeing for Warners.

McCanlies won a BAFTA award for writing "The Iron Giant" with Brad Bird and wrote and directed 2003's "Secondhand Lions." He is repped by Endeavor and manager Lindsay Williams of the Gotham Group.