Trainspotting screenwriter John Hodge will adapt SusanCooper's British children's fantasy novel The Dark Is Rising for Walden Media.

As previously reported here (Screendaily, May 6 2005),Marc Platt is producing the project about a young boy who discovers that he isdescended from a line of immortal warriors dedicated to fighting evil.

"We are thrilledto have a world-class writer like John Hodge on board for a world-classproduction like The Dark is Rising," Walden Media chief executive officer Cary Granat said.

Hodge is bestknown for his long-time collaboration with director Danny Boyle, beginning with1995's Shallow Grave,and continuing with Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, and The Beach.

Executive vice president of production Alex Schwartz anddirector of development Evan Turner will oversee the project for Walden Media,and Marc Platt Productions executives Adam Siegel and Jared LeBoff will shepherdthe script for the company.

First publishedin 1973, The Dark Is Rising has won numerous awards including the Newbery Honor Award by theAmerican Library Association in 1974 and the Boston Globe Book Award in 1973.

It is the secondin a series of five books that also includes Over Sea, Under Stone (1965), Greenwitch (1974), The Grey King (1975), and Silver On The Tree (1977).

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