"Dragonriders of Pern" Gets Big Screen Adaptation

Anne McCaffrey's best-selling and long-running sci-fi/fantasy series "The Dragonriders of Pern" is getting the big-screen treatment from Canadian production company Copperheart Entertainment, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Copperheart has optioned the series, which began with the "Dragonflight" in 1968 and which McCaffrey has continued - with nearly 20 installments - in collaboration with her son Todd. The latest book, "Dragon's Fire," set for release in July.

The books - best known for their fire-breathing dragons with telepathic bonds to their human riders - have a huge fan base that has inspired role playing games, fanfiction and various video game incarnations.

With "Dragonflight," McCaffrey became the first woman ever to win a Hugo Award for fiction. She is also one of the 2006 inductees into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.

In choosing Copperheart, McCaffrey said, "I decided that 'Pern' had to be done right, and I wouldn't let it go to someone unless I was certain that they were committed to excellence."

Copperheart, run by Steve Hoban, was behind the 2005 Oscar-winning animated short "Ryan." The company has also produced the Imax 3-D movie "Cyberworld," as well as the popular "Ginger Snaps" horror series. Hoban is in postproduction on the remake of the 1970s horror cult classic "Black Christmas."

Let's hope the film adaptation doesn't have the same fate as the proposed TV series. Way back in 2001, the WB green-lighted an hour-long series adaptation of "Pern" to be produced by the then "Roswell" writer/producer Ronald D. Moore (now one of the creative forces behind the SciFi Channel's hit show "Battlestar Galactica"). The plug was pulled, however, only days before production was set to begin in a dispute over the show's creative direction.

Maybe Moore can give the new production team a few tips from his adaptation - at least a few on what to avoid, anyway. -- Shannon Nolley

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