We first heard of The 39 Clues in 2008 before the books even hit store shelves. Back then some thought the new series could become the next Harry Potter in terms of franchises with the promise of ten books, games to play online, multiple authors, and collectible cards that would help readers try and solve the mysteries of the stories, creating an exciting interactive element to the series. Not to mention the fact that Steven Spielberg, who had acquired and set up the project with DreamWorks, was said to be a possibility to direct the first an expected many movies.

Unfortunately for fans, things change a great deal over time. The ten books in The 39 Clues have been released and have sold very well for Scholastic Media — so well, in fact, that an eleventh book in the series, Vespers Rising, was also just recently released — but Mr. Spielberg is not the man that will be directing the movie.

No, no — instead, DreamWorks has just locked up Brett Ratner to helm the movie for them. Ratner’s previous works include all three Rush Hour movies, Red Dragon, and X-Men: The Last Stand.

On the brighter side of things, the books at aimed at kids between the ages of 8-12, so perhaps not having Speilberg isn’t as bad as it sounds…so long as the movies are only interested in winning the younger crowd over.

The screenplay for the movie was written by Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me if You Can, The Terminal), who has worked with Ratner many times in the past on the Rush Hour movies and Tower Heist, the director’s latest movie set to be released in November.

[Source: Deadline]