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Steven Spielberg and The Odyssey Inspired The Fantasy Blockbuster Event of the Decade
Author Katherine Rundell has revealed that classic films such as the BBC's Narnia adaptations, Pixar movies and Steven Spielberg's work are shaping the live-action screen adaptation of her fantasy book series Impossible Creatures, whose rights Disney acquired in 2025. Rundell is writing her first screenplay for the project herself, drawing on cinematic touchstones alongside her novels' roots in The Odyssey, and plans to take two years away from writing new books to focus on it, underlining the scale of the undertaking for both author and studio.
The third instalment in the series, The Neverfear, was published on 1 September and takes inspiration from the Labours of Hercules, following earlier books influenced by works including Hamlet. Rundell said the script has already gone through several drafts and that she trusts Disney's effects expertise to realise the books' many fantastical creatures, some inspired by ancient sources such as Pliny the Elder. She has also expanded her plans from a trilogy to five books, having already written the ending, with the fourth and fifth instalments expected roughly a year apart.
In short
- Disney is adapting Katherine Rundell's Impossible Creatures books for film
- Rundell is writing the screenplay, citing Narnia, Pixar and Spielberg as influences
- Third book The Neverfear is out now; series expanded from three to five books
Explained simply
Impossible Creatures is a fantasy series by British author Katherine Rundell, set in a world filled with mythical creatures. Its stories draw on older works such as The Odyssey and Hamlet, as well as legends about figures including Hercules.
Disney acquired the screen rights in 2025, and Rundell is writing the screenplay for a live-action adaptation. She has said films by Steven Spielberg, Pixar and the BBC’s Narnia adaptations are among its influences, and that the story’s creatures will need visual effects.
The series has grown from three planned books to five. Its adaptation matters to readers and the studio because it brings a popular book world to the screen, while giving its author a central role in shaping how that world is portrayed.