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Environmental cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers is getting the big-screen treatment.
Sony Pictures is in final negotiations to pick up the rights to the early 1990s series for an adaptation to be produced by Mark Gordon, Don Murphy and Susan Montford.
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The show was produced by Turner Broadcasting and DIC Entertainment, the latter known for Inspector Gadget and The Real Ghostbusters cartoon shows.
Captain Planet told the story of five teens from around the world — North America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia and South America (if this isn’t tailored for today’s international marketplace, I don’t know what is) — that are given powers by Gaia, the earth spirit, in order to protect the planet from the devastation of polluters.
When their powers are not enough, the teens combine to summon a superhero named Captain Planet.
The Captain and the Planeteers fought villains such as Dr. Blight, Verminous Skumm, Duke Nukem and Looten Plunder. (The series initially attracted high-profile celebrities to play the baddies — Sting , Meg Ryan and James Coburn among them.)
A movie adaptation attempted to take form in the 1990s but only reached the script stage. Murphy and Montford developed a live-action series with Cartoon Network in the late 2000s but it never took root.
Andrea Giannetti will oversee for the studio.
Gordon is a veteran producer whose credits range from Speed and Broken Arrow to Saving Private Ryan and 2012. He is also the executive producer behind shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and the upcoming Ray Donovan.
Murphy, one of the producers behind The Transformers mega-franchise, and Montford are in production on Vampire Academy, the adaptation of the YA novel by Richelle Mead being directed by Mark Waters.
E-mail: Borys.Kit@THR.com
Twitter: @borys_kit
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