Canada’s Nelvana is collaborating with Andrews McMeel Entertainment to develop Trapped in a Video Game, a series of films based on the book series of the same name, created and written by Dustin Brady.
While development is underway on the first movie, both the companies are looking for international partners.
The synopsis of the movie reads: Getting sucked into a video game is not as much fun as you’d think. Sure, there are jetpacks, hover tanks, and infinite lives, but what happens when the game starts to turn on you? In the bestselling book series, 12-year-old Jesse Rigsby finds out just how dangerous video games – and the people making those games – can be. The film series will deliver the non-stop action, huge plot twists and tons of humour that fans know and love from the books.
Nelvana Studios vice president Athena Georgaklis said, “Books have the power to transcend pages, and when those stories are extended to new platforms, we can give fans another way to experience their favourite characters.”
“Dustin Brady enthralled readers with the first Trapped in a Video Game, and fans have eagerly anticipated (and subsequently delighted in) each book that followed,” said Andrews McMeel Entertainment development head Matt Sheppo. “The vibrant and imaginative adventures lend themselves perfectly to screens, and we’re confident viewers will be just as thrilled with each film.”
The first instalment of the five-book series was released in 2018, and the complete series has sold nearly 2.5 million copies worldwide. Andrews McMeel Publishing publishes the books. Andrews McMeel Entertainment is represented by Independent Artist Group (IAG), while Nelvana is a producer, distributor and licensor of children’s animated and live-action content.
