Wendy and Richard Pini’s cult comic book series Elfquest is the latest fantasy epics to be picked up by a major motion picture studio. The Hollywood Reporter brings word today that Warners Bros. has nabbed rights to the property and has attached Rawson Thurber (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) to write, direct and produce the big-screen adaptation. There’s no word on whether the film will be animated or live action with CG elements. There have been past attempts to bring the tales to life through animation.
Elfquest takes place on a planet named Abode and revolves around elves that are descended from highly advanced humanoid aliens. Central to the saga are the Wolfriders, a tribe of psychic elves that find themselves at odds with Trolls and superstitious humans. The Pinis created the adult-oriented comic in 1978 and self-published it until Marvel Comics picked it up and released it under its Epic imprint. DC Comics teamed with the Pinis’ Warp Graphics and began printing the series in 2003, starting with a 25th anniversary special.
A multi-volume animated adaptation was advertised in the pages of Elfquest in the early 1990s, but it never truly came to fruition and readers were encouraged to request refunds. Some readers ended up receiving a 50-minute video cassette featuring limited animation of artwork from the graphic novels.
Courtenay Valenti is overseeing development of the feature film for Warner Bros. Thurber also wrote and directed an adaptation of the Michael Chabon novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which debuted this year at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.
