'Eagle Eye' scribe to adapt 'Dragons' books

Travis Adam Wright has been hired to adapt "Here, There Be Dragons" and "The Search for the Red Dragon," the first two books in James A. Owen's popular young-adult fantasy series "The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica."

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The Gotham Group is producing the feature adaptations, with "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy co-producer Rick Porras also coming aboard to produce. Warner Bros. will distribute the films in the potential franchise.

So far, "Geographica," which Owen also illustrates, includes four novels revolving around a secret book that contains the unpublished maps and journals of history's most famous author-adventurers. Included as protagonists are a young J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, future giants of the fantasy-adventure genre whose famous works are imagined by Owen to have been inspired by these fictional adventures.

Wright said Owen's series is "the best gift any fanboy of Tolkien, Lucas and Spielberg could receive. Here is a character-driven franchise that is both familiar and fresh, where wit and intelligence, not just rifles and regiments, win the day."

The series' publisher, Simon & Schuster, plans to publish seven books, with the fifth novel, "The Dragon's Apprentice," due in stores in the fall.

"James Owen has managed to create a global 'what-if' franchise which subsumes not just the 'LOTR' trilogy and 'The Chronicles of Narnia' but the entire canon of Western literature from Milton to Jules Verne," said Porras, who also is producing "The Lost Patrol" at Legendary Pictures.

Wright, repped by WME and Benderspink, co-wrote the thriller "Eagle Eye" for DreamWorks as well as Paramount's remake of Walter Hill's "The Warriors," which is in development with Tony Scott attached to direct and produce.