Studios Scramble to find the Next Harry Potter

Will the next Harry Potter please stand up? Or hey, how about the next Eragon? What? Eragon blew? Oh well, nevermind the last one. So whose got the next Harry Potter ready to wow kids everywhere? (As an aside, you might notice my general lack of enthusiasm for covering Harry Potter news. Why? Because, um, I’m indifferent to the franchise. It’s as interesting to me as watching British people sweep chimneys while whistling.) That having been said, it is interesting. this mad scramble to find “the next Harry Potter”. Variety lists two wannabes — “Tunnels” and “Septimus Heap”, ready to take over once Potter casts his last spell with the 7th and final movie in 2008.

“Septimus Heap” revolves around two babies switched at birth, one who discovers his birthright as son of a powerful wizard and a girl destined to be a princess. Angie Sage, who wrote the series for HarperCollins, will exec produce the first bigscreen adaptation, “Septimus: Magyk.” Karen Rosenfelt, who exec produced “The Devil Wears Prada,” will produce Warner’s first installment.

“Tunnels” centers on a 14 year old boy whose father disappears down a tunnel, then investigates to discover a secret world of wizards. British scribes Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams self-published the first tome, which will be published by Barry Cunningham this summer in the U.K. and bow in the U.S. next January through Chicken House/Scholastic.

The seven-part series “Septimus Heap” would seem to have the upper hand, if only because the studio behind it is Warner Brothers and their massive PR and production machine. The three-part series “Tunnels”, meanwhile, is being put into production by Relativity Media, who has assigned Ryan Kavanaugh and Mark Canton to oversea the wannabe series.

In any case, more British wizards, anyone?