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Warner Bros. Acquires Movie Rights to Septimus Heap

HarperCollins Publishers announced that Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired the feature film rights to the seven-book fantasy series, SEPTIMUS HEAP. This bestselling series marks U.K. author Angie Sage's first foray into middle-grade fantasy.

SEPTIMUS HEAP: MAGYK, the first book in the series will be produced by Karen Rosenfelt (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA) with Sage as exec producer.

The series tells the story of two babies that are switched at birth: one, a boy who discovers his birthright as the seventh son of a seventh son, and ultimately, a powerful wizard; the other, a girl who is destined to become Princess. Their stories are set in a weird and wonderful fairy-tale England and their journeys of self-discovery are filled with hilarious characters and clever charms, potions and spells.

"We are delighted that Warner Bros. will be creating films from the SEPTIMUS HEAP series," said Susan Katz, president and publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books. "We know that the producers share our belief that the world of SEPTIMUS HEAP is quirky, humorous and unlike anything else in children's fantasy."

Published in March 2005 by HarperCollins Children's Books, SEPTIMUS HEAP: MAGYK was an international bestseller. It debuted at #3 on the New York Times Best Sellers List and moved to #1 in its second week on-sale. The subsequent books in the series, SEPTIMUS HEAP: FLYTE and SEPTIMUS HEAP: PHYSIK, were published in March 2006 and March 2007, respectively.

Since its inception, the SEPTIMUS HEAP series has sold more than 1 million units in the U.S. All of the books have appeared on national bestseller lists in the U.S. immediately following publication, including the NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY and BOOK SENSE. The series has been sold in 28 languages and has appeared on the bestseller lists in France, Sweden, Spain and the U.K.

HarperCollins Children's Books (www.harpercollinschildrens.com) is one of the leading publishers of children's books. Respected worldwide for its tradition of publishing quality, award-winning books for young readers, HarperCollins is home to many children's classics -- CHARLOTTE'S WEB, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, GOODNIGHT MOON, WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS and WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. HarperCollins Children's Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, one of the leading English language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corp. Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australasia.

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