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Chad Hodge, the creator of the Fox TV series Wayward Pines, has been tapped to adapt the first book of the Darkest Minds YA trilogy by Alexandra Bracken.
Shawn Levy and his 21 Laps banner are producing.
The book is described as combining superhero conventions with tones of coming-of-age stories such as Stand By Me and postapocalyptic survivor tales like The Walking Dead.
Minds is set after a pandemic kills most of America’s children and teenagers. When some survivors develop various superpowers, they are deemed too dangerous for society, taken from their families and placed inside internment camps.
The first book tells of a 16-year-old with telekinetic powers who escapes her camp and joins a group of teens on the run from the government.
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Minds was published December 2012 while the second book, Never Fade, was released in October 2013. Both were New York Times best-sellers. The final book, In the Afterlight, is due to hit stores October 2014.
With the hiring of Hodge, Fox is signaling a serious push into the YA field. The studio has YA adaptation The Maze Runner opening Sept. 19 and sees both Runner and Minds as franchise hopefuls.
Billy Rosenberg and Dan Cohen are overseeing Minds for 21 Laps.
As a director, Levy has the Warner Bros. dramedy This Is Where I Leave You opening Friday (it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival) followed by Night at the Museum: Secrets of the Tomb, opening Dec. 19. On the producer side, he has Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day opening Oct. 10.
WME-repped Hodge hails from the TV world, where in 2011 he created The Playboy Club. Wayward Pines, which is set to air as an event miniseries in 2015, boasts a cast that incudes Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino, Terrence Howard and Melissa Leo. M. Night Shyamalan directed the pilot.
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