Matches Made In Heaven

Some of us wait for the second coming of the Jim Henson Company with a kind of fervent hope. Jim dies and nothing is ever the same again. Well check out this news item if you will:

The Jim Henson Company is looking to head deeper into a genre it does very well, as it picked up three fantasy based books for its film development slate and live-action projects. Jim Henson's Creature Shop , the visual and special effects division of Henson, will develop the characters for each movie using a mix of CGI and animatronics. All three movies will be produced by co-CEOs Lisa Henson and Brian Henson, and Jason Lust, SVP/Feature Films. The company has picked up the movie rights to:

The Boggart , by author Susan Cooper , is the story of Canadian family that inherits a Scottish castle including a jovial spirit, which has been playing tricks on castle residents for generations. Developed as a live-action family film with Brian Henson is set to direct.

The Doubtful Guest , by the inimitable Edward Gorey , is about a mysterious creature that shows up unannounced and unwelcome at a family-owned bed & breakfast, where all are perplexed by its habits. Brad Peyton is slated to direct the movie featuring a screenplay by Matthew Huffman.

Monster Blood Tattoo is a fantasy/adventure book trilogy, by D.M. Cornish, which includes Foundling, Lamplighter, and a third untitled novel, is set in a 'magical Victorian realm' and follows an orphaned boy on a dangerous quest to become an apprentice to a line of monster bounty hunters. There is no writer or director as of now.

There's also some talk of The Dark Crystal 2 and a Fraggle Rock movie (with Ahmet Zappa at the helm, oh ye gods) but for now we'll just concentrate on how nice a Boggart film would be. And I guess I have to read Monster Blood Tattoo, huh Tim?