Walt Disney Studios has acquired film rights to British writer Katherine Rundell’s award-winning and critically celebrated fantasy series, “Impossible Creatures.”
As part of Disney’s deal with Rundell and her production company Impossible Films, Disney has secured theatrical film and ancillary rights to the “Impossible Creatures” series, with Rundell “central to the creative vision and development of the franchise,” according to the Tuesday release. The author will adapt the first two books into feature film screenplays under Disney’s live-action banner and produce alongside her creative partner Charles Collier.
Additionally, Impossible Films will begin a first-look development relationship with Disney that includes Rundell’s current and upcoming literary properties. Impossible Films will remain based in London, led by Rundell with a team that includes Collier, producer Alexandra Derbyshire (“Paddington 2,” “Wonka”) and Simon Bax, former CFO of Pixar Animation Studios and President of Studio Operations at Fox.
The book series, which debuted in 2023, is set in the fictional world of the Glimouria Archipelago. The most recent installment, “The Poisoned King,” debuted as an immediate global bestseller, making Rundell “the first U.K. children’s author since J.K. Rowling to simultaneously reach the No. 1 position on the children’s book charts in both the U.K. and the U.S. to date,” per Disney. Rundell’s books have sold more than four million copies worldwide, and in 2024 she was awarded both Author of the Year and Children’s Book of the Year at The British Book Awards.
Initially envisioned as a trilogy, Rundell expanded “Impossible Creatures” to be a five-book series earlier this year in two major seven-figure publishing deals with Bloomsbury and Knopf. The first two books have already sold over one million copies across 34 territories, and Rundell is in discussions to further expand the franchise beyond the five novels.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be linking arms with Disney. It’s a privilege to be writing these screenplays and developing these first movies in the franchise together with Charles, my team at Impossible Films and with the exceptional team at Disney,” Rundell said in a statement. “I’m especially grateful to Bob Iger, whose enthusiasm after reading the book helped set this collaboration in motion, and to Alan Bergman and David Greenbaum for being incredible partners throughout this process. Our ambition is to build ‘Glimouria’ and ‘Impossible Creatures’ into a spectacular series of films, so that we can entertain and inspire family audiences across the world.”
“When I read ‘Impossible Creatures,’ I knew it belonged here at Disney. I was immediately drawn into the vibrant world Katherine imagined and the possibilities of what we could do together with this story,” added Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Written by Katherine herself, these movies are in the best of hands with our Walt Disney Studios team, and I can’t wait to see this tale brought to the screen.”
“Katherine Rundell has masterfully crafted a spectacular and immersive world with ‘Impossible Creatures,’ and her vision is a perfect match for the Disney storytelling tradition,” Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, and David Greenbaum, president of Disney Live-Action and 20th Century Studios, agreed. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Katherine and Charles to bring this epic saga to life for audiences worldwide — it’s going to be an extraordinary adventure.”
