Children's Book Series "Dragonology" Looking At Big Screen Debut

June 13, 2008 5:41 p.m. EST

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - The children's book series "Dragonology" may soon be turned into a feature film. Universal has acquired the film rights and hired Leonard Hartman to write the adaptation.

The books by Dugald A. Steer are based on the fact that dragons exist and should be studied like any rare species.

In screenwriter Hartman's fantasy-adventure version of the books, a group of dragonologists go on a globe trotting quest to keep a corrupt man from taking control of the world's dragons and using them to wipe out humanity.

The first "Dragonology" book was published in the U.K. in 2003 by Templar and in the U.S. by Candlewick Press. It has sold more than 2.8 million copies worldwide in 32 languages. According to the publisher, subsequent titles, from books on tracking and taming dragons to a code-writing kit, have brought the total sales for all "Dragonology" titles to 5.7 million.

Plans are also in the works for "Dragonology" to be adapted into Nintendo Wii and DS games.