Raimi Gets Goodkind's 'Sword;' DC Delivers Its 'Universe'

by Rachel Deahl, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 7/25/2006

Blockbuster director Sam Raimi, who's helming the record-breaking Spider-Man franchise, has optioned Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series with his producing partner, Joshua Donen. The bestselling sci-fi novels, which are published by Tor Books, have garnered varying degrees of Hollywood interest in the past decade but, according to a statement from Goodkind, a deal to bring them to the screen never felt right until he was approached Raimi. The director, who gained cult status with his 1981 horror spoof Evil Dead, plans to develop the novels—there are currently ten volumes in print and Goodkind is scheduled to release the 11^th, and final, volume in 2008—into a TV mini-series. While Raimi plans to begin production on the first book, Wizard's First Rule, within the next year, no definitive dates have been set for the delivery of the mini-series.

In other fantasy to film news, DC Comics has teamed with Warner Bros. to do a series of animated films based on its DC Universe line. The agreement, which was made public Monday at San Diego Comic-con, will pair the publisher with Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Animation for a spate of "action-packed" PG-13 movies. The first three films scheduled for 2007 and early 2008 are: Justice League: New Frontier; Superman: Doomsday; and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract