The protagonists of Michael Scott’s book series, titled The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, are a pair of 15 year-old twins, Josh and Sophie, who accompany the alchemist on his adventures across the globe, helping him to safeguard his secrets from those who would use them for selfish and destructive ends.
The first three books in the Flamel series are called The Alchemyst, The Magician, and The Sorceress. May 25, 2010 will mark the arrival of a fourth installment, The Necromancer. Two more books, The Warlock and The Enchantress, are planned.
Talk of turning this series into a movie franchise started three years ago when New Line Cinema optioned the rights. However, after Warner Brothers downsized New Line last year, the rights were up for grabs again, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (G.I. Joe, Transformers) did the grabbing. The name Nicholas Flamel is bound to conjure associations with the Harry Potter franchise, a fact which di Bonaventura embraces, going as far as to say, “Michael’s fantastic series is a natural evolution from Harry Potter.”
As we approach the conclusion of the Harry Potter collection, fantasy fans are no doubt hoping for another group of movies to take its place. Efforts like Eragon and The Golden Compass fell flat. Can this one succeed where they failed?