Spooky director named

Warner Bros. and Legendary are looking to start up the next Potter/Narnia franchise through the young adult book series, THE WARDSTONE CHRONICLES by author Joseph Delaney, by adapting the first story of the series, THE SPOOK’S APPRENTICE, for the big screen. And as of today, it looks like they’ve found their director: Kevin Lima, the helmer of this Fall’s mega-hit ENCHANTED.

The project was once set to become another Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration, but never came to fruition. However it now seems that both studios are on the fast track to birthing this ghostly baby. Lima and the SPOOK’S producing team flew to London last week to work on the adaptation originally penned by Matthew Greenberg. You can take a gander at the pretty-neat-sounding plot below:

Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and has been apprenticed to the local spook. The job is hard, the spook is distant, and many apprentices have failed before him. Somehow Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches, and bind boggarts. But when he is tricked into freeing Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the country, the horror begins…

Here’s hoping they go for a darker PG-13 like the last couple of Potter flicks. No stars or a release date have been reported yet, but I’ll keep a watch on this developing APPRENTICE.