Classic '90s Sci-Fi Series Animorphs Is Getting A Movie

Beloved young adult book series Animorphs by K.A. Applegate is headed to the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scholastic will team up with producer Erik Feig for the movie.

"We couldn't be more excited to work with Scholastic to adapt Animorphs, an iconic book series with a wildly unique combination of exciting, witty, outlandish and grounded elements that feel all too relevant for our times," Feig explained in a statement. "We know these books have a deservedly deep bench of passionate fans and we hope to make Katherine Applegate and her co-author, Michael Grant, proud."

The massive, 54 book series follows a group of teens given the ability to transform into animals by a race of benevolent aliens. Their powers came with a secret mission: to stop a race of parasitic extraterrestrial slugs called Yeerks. It may sound like silly YA sci-fi--and it is, to a degree--but the books gained widespread acclaim and a devoted fan base for their ability to deal with complicated, dark themes such as morality during wartime, grief, loss, and sacrifice.

The movie will not be the first live adaptation of the series. Animorphs had a two season live-action TV show on Nickelodeon which aired between 1998 and 1999. It starred a pre-X-Men Shawn Ashmore and, if we had to guess, probably won't hold up to whatever nostalgia may be out there for it.

In addition to the film, Scholastic plans on launching a graphic novel adaptation of the Animorphs series on October 6 of this year. Production on the film does not yet have a start date.