Danny and the Dinosaur live action film based on children’s books by Syd Hoff in the works of the legendary HarperCollins

Legendary Entertainment partners with Caroline Fraser of HarperCollins Productions (Carmen San Diego) to produce live action Danny and the Dinosaur Film based on Syd Hoff’s best-selling children’s picture book series.

HarperCollins Productions acquired the media rights to the series from the Author’s Guild Foundation, which shares it with the Anti-Defamation League Foundation, ORT America, Inc., and the United Negro College Fund, Inc.

The original book, published by HarperCollins in 1958, follows a young boy and a dinosaur who, after meeting at a museum, go on a series of wonderful adventures together. Six Hoff-penned sequels followed, with the complete set selling more than 11 million copies in 12 languages.

Hoff wrote dozens of books for children and adults before he died in May 2004 at the age of 91. The New York native was also known for creating thousands of cartoons, including those that appeared regularly in the Resident of New York, after making his first sale to the publication at the age of 18. Hoff’s work has also appeared in many other journals over the years, e.g inhabitant and The Saturday Night Postand in a nationally syndicated daily feature.

HarperCollins’ in-house production company, HarperCollins Productions, produces TV, film and interactive media from concept to launch, handling marketing, product licensing and promotions for major HarperCollins franchises including Carmen San Diego (netflix), Pretzel and the puppies (AppleTV+) and The Oregon Trail.

Legendary titles coming soon, from Sony and Warner Bros. respectively, are Bert Kreischer’s vehicle The device (May 26), based on Kreischer’s famous stand-up piece and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: part two (November 3). Recently announced projects at the company’s plants include the limited series The perfect babysitter, with Nicole Kidman and Maya Erskine, for HBO; and the movie suburban hell, based on the novel by Maureen Kilmer, whose producers include Paul Feig and Sam Raimi. The company also recently sold its manga adaptation drops of god to Apple, with this series being one of the few projects acquired by the streamer rather than created in-house.