Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Brothers has acquired screen rights to The Planet Thieves, an upcoming young adult novel by Dan Krokos that will be published next May by Tor/Macmillan. The film will be produced by Heyday Films and Benderspink along with Pouya Shahbazian. Heyday’s David Heyman is coming off the Harry Potter series, which seems somewhat appropriate since it was pitched to the studio as Harry Potter set in space.

The book focuses on a young space cadet who finds himself caught in the middle of Earth’s struggle to survive. His ship is attacked by an alien race bent on gaining control of a weapon they’re carrying on board. Krokos previously wrote False Memory, a series that was optioned for a potential TV series by RKO Pictures. It was published last month by Disney Hyperion.