Just aweek after acquiring the film rights to Michael Ende'sJim Button children's classic for anEnglish language screen adaptation German producer Christian Becker has nowbought the rights to the late Max von der Gruen's 1976 children's book, The Suburban Crocodiles (Die Vorstadtkrokodile).

The storyof a paraplegic boy being integrated into a children's gang, the "SuburbanCrocodiles" (so named because of a figure of a crocodile sown on theirtrousers)will be produced in German from a screenplay by Martin Ritzenhoff (Das Jesus Video)by Becker's Westside Filmproduktion, a subsidiary ofproducer-distributor Constantin Film. It will bereleased by Constantin's distribution arm ConstantinFilmverleih atthe end of 2007, beginning of 2008.

The Suburban Crocodiles was adapted for German publicbroadcaster WDR in 1977 from a screenplay written by von derGruen himself and directed by the late WolfgangBecker.

Thislatest acquisition is another step in Becker's move into the highly successfulfamily entertainment segment in Germany. The adaptation of the classic Hui Buh - Das Schlossgespenst withMichael "Bully" Herbig as the voice of the CGI-animated castle ghost Hui Buh will be released by Constantin this July.

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