Disney is backing a new movie venture that could not only turn out to be a successful franchise-starter, but could end up being one of the most sustainable new franchises this side of Marvel. That’s not just speculation either: this new film is an adaptation of one of the most successful book series ever created, and would be the first successful big-screen adaptation of those works.

If all of that wasn’t promising enough, two of the hottest directors working today are at the helm, and they are working from a script by an award-winning writer. It may have taken nearly 50 years, but the stars finally seem to be aligning to bring a treasured piece of so many childhoods to a new generation.

Choose Your Own Adventure Is (Finally) Getting A Movie

According to trade reports, 20th Century Studios (a Disney subsidiary) is developing a Choose Your Own Adventure movie, based on the popular series of interactive books, which first hit store shelves in 1979, with the novel The Cave of Time. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (better known as the collective “Radio Silence”) are set to direct the film; the pair gained major breakout fame directing the cult-horror film Ready or Not, as well as revitalizing the Scream series when they directed the fifth and sixth films as soft reboots. More recently, the pair directed their own original vampire flick, Abigail, as well as the sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.

Bettinelli-Oplpin and Gillett will direct from a script by Tom Biseell, a WGA Award-winning gaming writer (Batman: Arkham Origins, Uncharted 4) who has transitioned to writing for TV (Star Wars: Andor, The Mosquito Coast) and films (The Disaster Artist).

How Do You Even Make A Choose Your Adventure Movie?

There is no word yet on which book from the Choose Your Own Adventure series would be adapted for the film, or what kind of stylistic approach Radio Silence is taking with the film: a straightforward adaptation of one of the books, some kind of interactive film that invokes the unique style of the books, or, perhaps, some kind of anthology film that adapts several of the books.

That’s a major question hanging over this project; there’s a reason why these books haven’t been mined by Hollywood in the nearly 50 years they’ve been in circulation. Netflix infamously took a swing at cracking the code on making interactive films a reality, with David Slade’s 2018 interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. That film won two Emmys but confused many viewers and failed to get the larger interactive movie initiative off the ground. Bandersnatch and another interactive film, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend (2020), fell out of favor so fast and hard that Netflix actually pulled them both from the platform last year. The Interactive movie sub-genre has been dead ever since.

Choose Your Own Adventure is a “gamebook” that allows readers the freedom to choose options to progress the story (taking a certain route vs another road; making choices about how to handle situations or characters that you encounter). The books are the rare stories that are written in second person, placing the reader directly into the story as “You” (“You walk into the room and see… X”, “You enter the door and there is…Y”). Finding a cinematic mechanic to recreate that experience in an authentic way has seemed to be impossible – but maybe Radio Silence has an approach no one considered?

Choose Your Own Adventure Can Be A Major Movie Franchise Success

With 184 volumes of story to choose from, there’s no shortage of content to keep this film franchise running for decades, if (when?) the filmmakers establish a unique and authentic format for the brand. Best of all, Choose Your Own Adventure books bridge so many different genres, including action, adventure, sci-fi, horror, mystery, thriller, wilderness and/or disaster survival, history, and more.

In short, so long as the style and format are consistent, Choose Your Own Adventure can practically function as its own independent production brand or studio, churning out all different types of films, which all offer that unique experience of the books. That’s a cash cow that’s been grazing in the field for decades, just waiting to be milked.

The Choose Your Own Adventure movie is in development. Discuss what these movies should be over on the ComicBook Forum!