Patrick Osborne To Direct Battling Boy

Reminding us that there are indie comics out there in the shadow of the Marvel/DC juggernaut, Paramount are preparing an adaptation of First Second Books' graphic novel Battling Boy, by Paul Pope. Patrick Osborne, an animator with credits on Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6, will make his feature directing debut with the film.

Pope's book revolves around the son of a god (essentially Thor) who comes down from the top of a mountain (essentially Asgard) to endure a coming-of-age ritual and rid the city of Acropolis of its giant monster infestation. Sadly for the city, its usual hero, the Batman-ish Haggard West (named after Adam?) has just died. But Battling Boy is determined to prove himself...

Osborne directed the Oscar-winning short film Feast{ =nofollow}, which played in cinemas before Big Hero 6, so has clearly been working towards a feature gig for some time. Paramount too have been developing Battling Boy since at least 2008, along with Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment. It's unclear whether Pitt is involved - or planning to be - in any other capacity...