Legendary Entertainment Closes Deal to Adapt ‘Danny and the Dinosaur’ Book Series

Syd Hoff’s books will become a live-action feature film under HarperCollins Productions

Danny-and-the-dinosaur
"Danny and the Dinosaur"

Legendary Entertainment announced today it will develop Syd Hoff’s book series “Danny and the Dinosaur” into a live-action feature film.

Caroline Fraser of HarperCollins Productions, the publisher’s in-house publishing company (“Carmen San Diego,” “The Oregon Trail” and “Pretzel and the Puppies”) will produce.

The story follows the adventures of young Danny and a dinosaur he meets at a museum. The books were first published by HarperCollins in 1958 and have since sold over 11 million copies in 12 languages.

The rights to “Danny and the Dinosaur” are held by the Authors Guild Foundation, with the Anti-Defamation League Foundation, ORT America, Inc., and the United Negro College Fund, Inc. HarperCollins Productions optioned the media rights to Danny and the Dinosaur from the Author’s Guild Foundation. 

According to Variety, Branded Pictures Entertainment previously optioned all the non-publishing rights to the book series. Producers J. Todd Harris and Marc Marcum were set to develop a different “Danny and the Dinosaur” film with a script adapted by David Bowers, Brian Sawyer and Gregg Rossen. The Legendary adaptation is not affiliated with this past iteration.

The series consists of five installments: “Danny and the Dinosaur,” “Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur,” Danny and the Dinosaur Go to Camp,” Danny and the Dinosaur: Too Tall” and “Danny and the Dinosaur and the New Puppy.”

Author Syd Hoff studied at the National Academy of Design. He has written other childrens books and has contributed a regular cartoon feature to “The New Yorker” since he sold his first cartoon to the magazine at age 18. His humorist cartoons have also appeared in magazines like “Esquire” and “The Saturday Evening Post.” Hoff was born and raised in New York City. He died at the age of 91 in 2004. The year 2012 marked his 100th birthday.

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