After languishing in development for nearly five years, Warner Bros. is finally moving forward with their animated comic book adaptation Bone. The studio has brought on Kung Fu Panda director Mark Osborne to take the helm on this project, with Dan Lin set to produce through his Lin Pictures company. The studio intends to have this project kick off a trilogy of animated features.

The Holllywood Reporter reports that Mark Osborne has also been tapped to executive produce with Lin Pictures' Mark Bauch and co-write the script with Adam Kline. Warner Bros. first picked up the rights to Jeff Smith's Eisner-winning comic book series in 2008. Here's what Mark Osborne had to say about coming aboard this project in a statement.

"Bone is very special and unconventional because it blends elements together that you don't necessarily expect - soft, little comic characters and epic high stakes fantasy adventure. To carry this into the cinematic realm presents both an opportunity to represent what readers of all ages have loved about the series, while pushing animated storytelling into exciting and different areas."

The Bone adaptation has been in development for several years, with Greek creator Patrick Sean Smith set to write the script and P.J. Hogan (My Best Friend's Wedding) once set to direct. The comics, which were published between 1991 and 2004, follow three cousins from the Bone family, small, bald and human-like creatures with big noses. The trio are run out of their hometown and find themselves in a mysterious valley where they are separated and hunted by other creatures. They are taken in by a girl named Thorn and her grandmother, and they find out that the valley is threatened by an evil force called the Lord of the Locusts.

Animal Logic's Zareh Nalbandian is also producing Bone alongside Dan Lin, although no production schedule or release date was given for the animated adaptation at this time. Mark Osborne made his feature film debut with the indie drama Dropping Out, which he followed up with directing the live-action sequences for the 2004 live-action/animation hybrid The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. He went on to direct the first Kung Fu Panda movie, which made $631 million worldwide. He also directed four Spongebob Squarepants episodes and this year's animated adaptation The Little Prince.