New film version of "Rats of NIMH" in works (Reuters)Source: Reuters Tue Jul 28, 2009, 1:43 pm EDT           

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Paramount smells a rat.

As rodents prove surprisingly likable on the big screen, the studio is developing a feature version of the Newbery Medal-winning children's book "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH."

Director Neil Burger ("The Illusionist") is in talks to write the screenplay.

The movie would be the second theatrical go-round for the book, which MGM brought to the screen in 1982 as the animated "The Secret of NIMH," directed by Don Bluth.

Robert C. O'Brien's book has been a staple in children's bookstores and libraries since it was first published in 1971. The story centers on a mouse -- the titular Mrs. Frisby, renamed Mrs. Brisby in the MGM movie -- faced with a crisis when her son falls ill and she must move her family to escape a farmer's plow.

Mrs. Frisby enlists a group of former lab rats, whom she soon discovers possess advanced technologies and run a highly evolved society, dividing labor in the manner of a human community.

Usually relegated to sidekick status, rodents recently have come into their own as main characters. This past weekend "G-Force," which centers on a mission undertaken by a group of computer-animated guinea pigs, took the box-office cheese, earning $32 million and besting holdover "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

Those familiar with "NIMH" noted, however, that the material has elements of a parable and reflects more serious ideas than the light comedy of "G-Force."

The new "NIMH" likely will combine live action and animation in the manner of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and other kiddie hybrids.

"NIMH" would be Burger's first foray into family fare. The writer-director's previous work includes the Ed Norton period magician's tale "The Illusionist" and the Tim Robbins post-Iraq feature "The Lucky Ones."

I loved this cartoon when I was a kid. I look back now and its pretty friggin dark and violent... And had Dom Deluise! Awesome shit. Hope they don't water it down.