What's the next Stormbreaker?

Guardian ^ | Thursday July 20, 2006 | Aida Edemariam

[fgoodwin]

Stormbreaker, for those who have not stumbled on the four-page ads, or do not have children, arrives in cinemas tomorrow. It introduces quad-biking, scuba-diving, mountaineering, teenage superspy Alex Rider. It is the first in what the makers obviously hope will be a franchise: Anthony Horowitz, who created Rider, has written six novels about him and sold 10m copies.

Film adaptations of children's books have always been big business - Disney comes to mind - but since the appearance in 2001 of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings, they're really big. Last year alone saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Nanny McPhee, Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm, and the first of seven years of Narnia.

Children, being loyal and obsessive fans, are in many ways the perfect audience, but they are also very clear about how things should be. Big-budget interpretations of favourite books are a huge risk - but when they work, the rewards, especially with a series, are beyond the dreams of avarice.

"For a while after the success [of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter]," says Joel Rickett, deputy editor of the Bookseller, "if you wrote any vaguely interesting fantasy you stood a good chance of an option being bought, often for a seven-figure sum. Children's books have benefited hugely." The film rights for GP Taylor's Shadowmancer, for example, went for £2.25m.

[Tax-chick]

I think my 12-year-old son has read those books. At least, he's read something by Horowitz, because I remember the name from the library's late-fee notices.