Nearly 100 years after making his debut on the printed page, teen inventor Tom Swift is poised to bring his adventures to a theater near you.
Variety reports that Worldwide Biggies, the studio recently launched by Albie Hecht, has acquired the rights to the Tom Swift series, which started in 1910 and now spans more than 100 books. From the article:
The company plans to introduce the franchise with a feature film and vidgame and follow with episodes for TV and the Web. Hecht used a similar pattern for “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius,” which opened as a film while he was head of Nick Movies and soon segued into an estimable run as a TV skein.
Since being created by Edward Stratemeyer — whose other characters included Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys — the Swift series has sold more than 200 million copies. Hecht, who produces the current Nickelodeon hit The Naked Brothers Band, says the Swift films and shows could either rely on a combination of live-action and CGI or motion-capture technology. He plans to make the Swift family company, Swift Industries, “a leading ‘green technology’ company,” and tells Variety:
“I grew up basically reading comicbooks and Tom Swift,” Hecht said. “The books always gave you something unexpected and brought the reader this feeling that ‘I can be an inventor. I can do that.'” Because of the property’s heritage and family nature, Hecht said it would have the “boomer equity” that has boosted the B.O. of many recent franchises.
Source: Variety
