His Dark Materials: According to The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Chris Weitz is in early negotiations to adapt and direct the first installment of Philip Pullman's celebrated kids fantasy book trilogy "His Dark Materials" for New Line Cinema. The studio is eyeing the trilogy as its follow-up to the Lord of the Rings series. It is unclear at this time whether Weitz would direct the other two installments or whether he would produce with his brother, Paul Weitz, through the duo's Depth of Field shingle.

The trilogy -- "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass" -- revolves around two children who live in parallel worlds surrounded by a cast of shape-shifting creatures.