Anne McCaffrey's 'Dragonflight' To Start Off New Sci-Fi Movie Series

Some say that literature is dead, but they couldn't be more wrong. Where else would we get all of our ideas for movies from?

The newest series to receive the Hollywood treatment will be Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" novels, beginning with the book "Dragonflight."

David Hayter, who wrote the screenplays for the "X-Men" movies and "Watchmen," will handle the adaptation duties.

The series is set on the planet of Pern, which is inhabited by humans and telepathic dragons, which are linked to a human rider at birth. The story of "Dragonflight" focuses mostly on the evil invading Thread and the need of the humans and dragons to fight it off before it destroys them.

So, think of it as a more adult, far more sci-fi version of "How to Train Your Dragon," with some "Avatar" thrown in.

To say that there is plenty of content to work with would be a huge understatement: McCaffrey published "Dragonflight" back in 1968, and has been writing books in the series ever since...she continues to do so even today, at age 85. It's that wealth of storylines that interests those behind this project: if "Dragonflight" is a success, this could be a whole new franchise.