Universal moves forward with Maximum Ride, Catherine Hardwicke attached to direct

I’ve seen the books at the bookstore, and yet I’ve never felt the need, the will, the want, or the desire (or all three) to pick one up to see what the hype was all about, but you know what? That’s all about to change. I’m talking about the MAXIMUM RIDE series of young-adult novels from author James Patterson, and according to THR’s Heat Vision Blog, Universal Pictures just snatched up the rights and will be going forward with bringing the MAXIMUM RIDE universe to the big screen.

The rights were held by Columbia Pictures for a while, but that’s not the case anymore. While at Columbia, Catherine Hardwicke was attached to direct the film, and that continues to be the case now. For those living in a shoebox, Hardwicke is the director behind another little movie adaptation known as TWILIGHT. In other words, she’s not stretching too far out of her comfort level with this one, and may end up spawning a movie that will become incredibly popular.

So what the f*ck is MAXIMUM RIDE all about anyway? The novels basically go something like this: six teens known as the Flock are genetically altered so they are part human and part bird. Learning to fly, they escape the laboratory where they have been housed and are pursued by a pack of creatures called the Erasers that are part human and part wolf.

Wolves again. But at least there aren’t shiny vampires in the mix, just half-human / half-bird hybrids. I’m not gonna pass judgment and talk about how lame this sounds or how much this movie is gonna blow. No, before I say those things I’m gonna at least try and devour one of the MAXIMUM RIDE novels and see what the hype is all about. Then I’ll be happy to say all those things again.

If you really want to sink your teeth into the MAXIMUM RIDE universe, be sure to check out the series’ Wikipedia page. Stick around for more updates on MAXIMUM RIDE as we hear it!