According to Variety, Warner Bros. has hired upstart screenwriter Rob Lieber to turn the NeoPets sensation into a feature length film … much like they did with those crazy Pokemon flicks a few years back. (Ugh, sorry for the reminder.)
"Warner Bros. Pictures has hired scribe Rob Lieber to pen the first CG-animated feature resulting from the studio’s pactpact with popular kids Web site NeoPets.
Producers are keeping the concept and logline for the NeoPets project under tight wraps. Created in 1991, NeoPets is tracked by millions of kids who log on to take care of their own virtual pets, as well as follow storylines about other pets who populate Neopia.
Warners inked the deal with NeoPets before Viacom bought the Web site. NeoPets has the option to co-finance and co-produce any NeoPets pic with Warner."
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You might not be too familiar with Mr. Lieber just yet, but you will be before too long. He has titles like "Hoot" and "Slay the Bully" in the production pipeline, and stuff called "Whitebread" and "The Greatest Escape" on the horizon.
So … anyone have a guess on how "NeoPets" will be transated into a feature-length film?
Oh, and P.S.: Contrary to what the Variety article says, NeoPets is hardly just for kids. My thirty-something-year old sister loves her virtual kitty and visits her at least once a day.
