If you’re Disney and you’re looking for someone to tackle a movie about a well-known fantasy figure, it makes sense to hire a proven talent who has won an Oscar for adapting the most famous fantastical tale of them all. Which explains why Lord Of The Rings/Hobbit veteran Philippa Boyens is writing a Young Merlin film.
Just the latest studio to take a shot at a new Merlin, the Mouse House has been busy trying to make this one work since it grabbed the rights to T.A, Barron’s YA series Merlin: The Lost Years last year.
Spanning a run of 12 books so far, Barron’s story for the first is set on the enchanted isle of Fincayra, where the teen wizard embarks on quests with female companion Rhia and wannabe jester Bumbelwy. The villain is Rhita Gawr, a spirit world warlord. Naturally, our hero has a lot to learn before he can become the powerful magician who helps King Arthur. It’s very much in the Harry Potter mold, and Disney will no doubt be keeping its wands crossed that this first effort kicks off a similarly successful franchise.
This marks the first time Boyens will have a chance to work outside of Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh since working on the various Tolkien-powered entries, King Kong and The Lovely Bones. With Team Rings still figuring out what they want to do next, the timing worked for Boyens to take this one, replacing writers Patrick Massett and John Zinman, who had been tackling the job.