‘Astronaut Academy’ Rights Acquired With Aim To Blast Off In Film & TV

EXCLUSIVE: Writer-producer ‎Vivek J. Tiwary has acquired TV and film rights to Astronaut Academy, the middle-grade graphic novel series from bestselling author-illustrator Dave Roman (Agnes Quill). The plan is to turn the books into both a live-action TV series and a film franchise, and talks are underway with writers, networks and studios to adapt the coming-of-age adventure story set at a fantastical space station school.

It’s ‘Harry Potter in space,’ ” said Tiwary. “As a massive longtime fan, I could not be more excited to turn this beloved comic series into a beloved TV and film franchise.”

Logline: Hakata Soy along with his friends/crushes Miyumi San and Maribelle Mellonbelly are training to be space heroes at Astronaut Academy. They rally a group of disparate students to save the universe from a threat that the adults just can’t handle, all while juggling exams, heartbreak, and the distraction of the Fireball Championship against P.S. Gamma Q.

“I grew up with The Goonies and Time Bandits, and later Buffy The Vampire Slayer — TV shows and films where misfits and oddballs are the heroes of big adventures,” added Roman, whose two-book series from First Second Books includes 2011’s Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity and 2013’s Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry. “To see Astronaut Academy follow in those footsteps makes me wish I could build a time machine to blow the mind of my 12-year-old self.”

Tiwary, who is mounting a Broadway musical based on the songs from Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill album, also penned the graphic novel The Fifth Beatle: The Story Of Brian Epstein, which is being developed as an event series at Sonar Entertainment. He is repped by Circle of Confusion.