Producer Bob Ducsay’s latest picture depicts the massive empire of China, or at least an undead depiction of that. But the producer has his eye on another kind of kingdom, reports Sci-Fi Wire. Ducsay is actively working on developing an adaptation of Magic Kingdom For Sale, the hit fantasy novel by Terry Brooks.
The novel tells the story of a man who buys a magic kingdom thinking he’s being conned, and then discovers he is indeed the owner of a genuine magic kingdom (not to be confused with Walt Disney’s creation). Unfortunately, the kingdom is in disrepair and not only needs a new owner, but a new hero to save the kingdom from disarray.
Ducsay talked about Magic Kingdom while promoting the latest Mummy movie, and said the director of the first two Mummy pictures, Stephen Sommers, is eying Magic Kingdom as a project for himself, where he will serve as director and co-producer.
From Ducsay’s comments, it sounds like they’re trying to do Magic Kingdom For Sale right, which unfortunately also means it’ll be expensive. ”Magic Kingdom is a very expensive movie. Lots of digital work. ... But the bottom line is, the studio actually likes the movie a great deal. So it's not like it's a complete uphill battle. It's just hard to get movies made." Of course, it might help that this is the first book in a series, and studios love series, especially the possibility of a fantasy series that could become their own Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
