'Bone' back on the boards

After years of largely staying away from Hollywood, Jeff Smith is back, having optioned "Bone" to Warner Bros. for Dan Lin to produce.

Deal is a potential blockbuster for Smith, who started self-publishing "Bone" in the early 1990s and retains all rights to the story and characters. The series ran 55 issues, with Smith publishing for a while with Image Comics before returning the book to his own Cartoon Books label, wrapping up in 2004.  Smith, who's been protective of the property, will exec produce the project.

It's also a savvy deal for WB, which would love a new kid-friendly fantasy franchise to replace "Harry Potter," which wraps after two more movie outings. "Bone" may have started as a self-published black-and-white comic, but its all-ages appeal and acclaim from critics and readers helped make it a big enough hit in the direct market for Scholastic to release color volumes that have been a smash hit with young readers in bookstores and schools. Offering a solid mix of fantasy, adventure, humor and a terrific look, a good movie version could vault "Bone" into the same arena as "Potter," "Spider-Man" or "Shrek."

Interestingly, Lin — a former WB exec who's also working on "Justice League of America" — is leaving open the option of doing "Bone" as a live-action film. While I know it's possible to do such a thing these days, I have a hard time imagining live-action as preferable to a good animated version.