Neverending Story: Rights to the cult hit fantasy franchise are in a bidding war for ownership

Are you ready to be reunited with Atreyu and Falkor in the mythical land of Fantasia? With fantasy epics being a hot commodity with properties like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings extending their universes with new shows, Deadline reports that classic children’s favorite, The Neverending Story, is now in a bidding war for the rights to the fantasy IP.

The German estate for the creator and author of the property, Michael Ende, is seeing many interested parties from streaming companies and studios. There are multi-million dollars being thrown around to secure the rights for the fantasy epic. The company, AVA, which represents the Ende estate, has yet to comment on the activity.

The Neverending Story was a classic children’s film from 1984. It was about a boy, who mourns for his late mother, and gets tormented by bullies at his school. To flee the aggressors, he seeks refuge in a bookshop, whose shopkeep shares a special book with him. The book is an ancient storybook called The Neverending Story, and our little hero can’t help but read it. Soon, he’s transported into the fantasy world of Fantasia, where he joins the fight to save the land from destruction by a dark force called The Nothing with the book’s protagonist, Atreyu. The story includes the likes of dragons, shape-shifters, giants, and amazing fantasy kingdoms.

The film was directed by Wolfgang Peterson and saw the release of two sequels that followed it. The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter would be directed by George Miller (not that George Miller). And The Neverending Story III would get a limited US release, followed by poor reception.

Stranger Things helped to bring the beloved cult hit back into the spotlight with a rendition of the film’s synth theme performed by characters Dustin and Suzie. The rights have been the subject of many lawsuits over proper ownership. With the popularity of vast, spectacular worlds and the stories they hold now being a big moneymaker, it’s clear that studios like Netflix and Amazon are banking on this being the next big thing.

What do you think? How would you like to see a reboot?