Filmmaker Jonathan W. Stokes has landed a six-figure deal with Penguin Young Readers Group’s Philomel imprint.
This middle-grade trilogy project marks Stokes’ debut as a novelist. Philomel president Michael Green will edit the manuscripts.
According to Deadline, the story “has a globe-trotting Goonies vibe and follows a sixth-grader and his pals as he tries to save his archaeologist parents after they’ve been kidnapped by fortune hunters.”
The first installment, Addison Cooke And The Treasure Of The Incas, is scheduled for release in 2015.
Stokes (pictured, via) wrote and directed The Last Hurrah. Here’s more from his biography:
Jonathan’s last three screenplays were all recognized on The Black List, an annual survey of Hollywood executives’ favorite screenplays. His action comedy “El Gringo” was produced by Joel Silver in 2012, and his action comedy “Murders and Acquisitions” is set up at Warner Brothers.