Nickelodeon and Paramount Acquire Anybodies Series

Posted on January 3, 2005

Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures announced that they have jointly acquired the motion-picture rights to The Anybodies, written by bestselling author Julianna Baggott and illustrated by Peter Ferguson. The announcement was made by Julia Pistor, Senior Vice President, Nick Movies and Donald De Line, Vice Chairman, Motion Picture Group and President, Paramount Pictures.

The Anybodies penned by Baggott's fictitious N.E. Bode, is an adventure tale about a eleven-year-old heroine named Fern who learns she was switched at birth and that she is a member of "The Anybodies" -- an extremely rare breed of human with powers to change shape. With her real father's help, Fern must find the 'manual' to being an "Anybody" -- before it falls into the hands of a sinister magician.

The Anybodies introduces a resourceful kid who must navigate a bizarre and imaginative world in a desperate effort to find family and a home. The book has garnered acclaimed reviews from the School Library Journal, the Kirkus Review and was recently mentioned in People Magazine's list of the top five books for "what's cool this summer" and was selected as Booksense pick for Fall 2004.

Julianna Baggott is an award-winning novelist known for her adult literary fiction which includes best-sellers Girl Talk and The Miss America Family. The Anybodies is Baggott's initial foray into children's literature and is the first in a planned trilogy from HarperCollins Children's Books. The next book following is entitled The Nobodies.

The project was brought to Nick Movies and Paramount Pictures through Damon Ross, VP of Development. He will supervise development with Julia Pistor who will serve as Producer for the film. The deal was brokered by Justin Manask of the Intellectual Property Group. The Anybodies is published by HarperCollins Children's Books.

Nickelodeon Movies is the feature film development and production division of Nickelodeon which produces movies for kids and their families in association with its sister Viacom company, Paramount Pictures. Nickelodeon feature film releases have grossed more than a half billion at the box office and include Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Rugrats Go Wild, The Rugrats Movie, Snow Day, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, Clockstoppers and The Wild Thornberrys Movie.