For years Susan Cooper'sfantasy series The Dark Is Rising Sequencehas held young readers in its thrall, and now the property is bound for the bigfollowing an announcement by Walden Media that it has bought the rights.

Marc Platt, whose credits include Legally Blonde and the Broadway musical Wicked, will produce the series, beginning with The DarkIs Rising, with executive vicepresident of production Alex Schwartz and director of development Evan Turner overseeing for Walden, and Adam Siegel and Jared LeBoff shepherding the screenplay for Marc Platt Productions.

The Dark Is Rising centres onWill, a young boy who discovers that he is descended from a line of immortalwarriors dedicated to fighting evil. As those forces gather for an onslaught,Will realises the fate of the world rests in his hands.

"We are incredibly grateful to Susan Cooper for the opportunity to bringanother acclaimed fantasy franchise to the screen," Walden Media chiefexecutive officer Cary Granat said in a statement. "It is an honour that she has entrusted us to translate her vision to film."

The project is Walden's second high profile children's fantasy franchise after CS Lewis' The Chronicles Of Narnia series,which it acquired in 2001. The first title from that series, The Lion, TheWitch And The Wardrobe, will bereleased with Disney on Dec 9.

Platt currently runs entertainment company Marc Platt Productions and his additional credits include Empire Falls for HBO, as well as The Silence Of The Lambs, Sleepless In Seattle, and Philadelphia during his time as production chief at Universal,Orion and TriStar.

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