Steven Spielberg added The 39 Clues – a multi-platform, multi-author adventure series for kids that launches next Tuesday around the globe – to his growing list of post-Indy IV projects a couple of months ago.
But it’s rapidly barging its way to the front of the queue, with the news that Jeff Nathanson – who has worked with the ‘Berg three times – has been signed to work on the Dreamworks property, in what would be the first in a series of several movies based around the high-concept series.
The series will play out across a 10-part phased release across several platforms, including novels, online elements and collectable cards, and tells the story of the Cahill family, the most powerful family in the world. The story revolves around the search for the source of the family’s power, a globetrotting escapade that will eventually involve 39 clues.
The first in the series is Rick Riordan’s The Maze Of Bones, with the second instalment, Gordon Korman’s One False Note, due on December 2nd.
Nathanson and Spielberg have developed a pretty solid working relationship of late, with the former working on the scripts for The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can and Indy IV (which was attributed solely to David Koepp, but Nathanson was credited with the story, along with George Lucas).
And while this movie seems to skew a little young for Spielberg these days, it’ll be interesting to see if he does indeed get involved in something that is so clearly intended to be a franchise. We thought that he might have put a lid on that sort of thing with Dr. Jones' last outing. Then again, with this and Tintin, maybe Spielberg is determined to reconnect with his inner child once more.