Bill Mechanic's Pandemonium Films has acquired film rights to the horror fantasy novel Coraline by Neil Gaiman and hired Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James And The Giant Peach) to direct it. The novel, published in the US on July 2 by HarperCollins Children's Books, is the story of a bored young girl who discovers a door leading to a sinister world in her family's new apartment.

Pandemonium plans to have the film in production in early 2003 for a late 2003 release through its distribution partner Buena Vista, which also distributed Selick's earlier films.

First up from Pandemonium are The Divide (aka Men Of Destiny) which is set to star Nicolas Cage and Chow-Yun Fat for director John Woo and Mermaid to be directed by Gregory Hoblit from a screenplay by James Schamus.