According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. had optioned the rights to the Anne McCaffrey‘s Dragonriders of Pern fantasy series earlier this year and now has hired author/screenwriter Sarah Cornwell to adapt the first novel of the epic series, Dragonflight.
Dragonflight is the first of a twenty-four volume series (as shown in Goodreads as being). It was originally published in 1968 as the first of a trilogy, but has since grown with the help of Anne’s son, Todd J. McCaffrey.
Warners optioned the book series earlier this year.Drew Crevello and Julia Spiro are overseeing for the studio.
Cornwell’s debut novel, What I Had Before You, was published in January 2014 and was a multi-generational coming-of-age drama. Her screenwriting work has won her a Humanitas Student Drama Fellowship. She is now adapting Demon Camp for Montecito Pictures, and she did a page one rewrite of The Forest for David Goyer and Lava Bear.
Being the book series is 24 volumes long, I wonder how much WB is invested in creating this world. It’s still a long, long way from going into production, and there’s so much more to consider, so for now it’s just a “wait and see” game.
Here’s the synopsis of the book from Goodreads:
To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright.
But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .
