Director and screenwriter Chris Columbus is currently developing a live-action series for Disney+ that will adapt the books from his House of Secret children’s fantasy series. The fantasy trilogy follows the Walker siblings: Brendan, Eleanor, and Cordelia. The trio and their family are forced to leave their comfortable life in San Francisco and move to an old Victorian house that was once owned by Denver Kristoff, an occult novelist. Upon being visited by Denver’s daughter, the house is sent to a world of fiction, trapping the siblings in an interconnected world of Kristoff’s novels.
Columbus will be teaming up with his 26th Street Pictures partners, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe to create a series following his three books of the same name. Currently no other cast or crew involved with the project are known. A statement from Executive VP of Creative Development and Strategy at Disney Branded Television, Ayo Davis shows that the team at Disney+ is happy to have a team on the project that is able to resonate with such a wide audience. The statement is below.
Chris, Michael and Mark tell stories that resonate with multiple audiences, across generations and genres that deliver a sense of magic and wonderment through definitional characters. There is so much affinity for their acclaimed films, and we are delighted to be working with them to develop House of Secrets into a thrilling Disney+ series.
Columbus co-authored the House of Secrets series with the late Ned Vizzini and saw the first of the trilogy releasing in 2013, with the series final entry releasing in 2016. Columbus is no stranger to the children’s fantasy genre, as he was the director of the film adaptations of both Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets before moving to direct Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
Columbus explained in a 2013 interview that this series really came together after seeing the impact that the Harry Potter novels were having on kids and went on to say that he sees these books as a “cousin” series to the 1985 film The Goonies, which he also wrote the script for.
There is still no release date or even release window for the House of Secrets series adaptation. The fantasy series will be arriving on Disney+.
via Collider