‘Thisby Thestoop’ Movie Based on Zac Gorman’s Fantasy Books in Works at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation | Exclusive

“Thisby Thestoop” is coming to the big screen.

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation is in development on “Thisby Thestoop,” based on the middle-grade fantasy book series written by Zac Gorman and published by HarperCollins Publishers.

Writers Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman brought the project to Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, who were dazzled by their “dynamic, imaginative pitch,” which was based on the first book in the series, “Thisby Thestoop and the Black Mountain.”

The story “centers on a young heroine who serves as the gamekeeper of a massive, creature‑filled dungeon, embarking on an adventure that blends fantasy, humor and heartfelt character storytelling.”

The original book series by Gorman was named a 2018 Cybils Awards Finalist in the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category, with judges praising it as “witty, funny and full of feeling, with memorable characters.” The series was also selected as a 2021 Washington Library Association Sasquatch Book Award Nominee, honoring outstanding middle‑grade literature chosen by young readers.

Before the book series, Gorman worked as a storyboard artist on the Emmy-winning “Over the Garden Wall” for Cartoon Network, a limited series that is now considered a modern classic. He was also nominated for an Annie Award for his character design work on Nickelodeon’s “Welcome to the Wayne,” and worked as a writer on the “Rick and Morty” comic book series published by Oni Press.

Desmond and Sherman adapted Paul Tremblay’s novel “The Cabin at the End of the World,” later reworked by M. Night Shyamalan and released by Universal as “Knock at the Cabin.” They also wrote “Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers,” based on a 1987 short story by Lawrence Watt-Evans, about a high school student who works at a rest stop for intergalactic journeymen and time travelers, which was purchased by Warner Bros. after winding up on the Black List of best unproduced scripts. Other scripts of theirs, “The Saturday Night Ghost Club” (based on a novel by Craig Davidson) and “Orb,” about a mysterious ball that mimics a young couple’s dead child, also wound up on the Black List.

They worked on the script for Paramount’s animated “Transformers One,” and are developing “The Time Runner,” based on their own original novella, at Paramount, along with “Wilderness Reform,” based on the novel by Matt and Harrison Query, for Paramount and director Josh Ruben.

Gorman is repped by Debbie Deuble Hill at IAG and for publishing by Jen Linnan at Linnan Literary. Desmond and Sherman are repped by CAA and Michael Hartman at Ziffren.

Other Warner Bros. Pictures Animation projects in the works include “The Cat in the Hat,” opening in theaters this November; Locksmith collaboration “Bad Fairies” in May 2027; “Margie Claus” from animation legend Kirk DeMicco and Melissa McCarthy for holiday 2027; and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” from Jon M. Chu and Jill Culton, in 2028.

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