'Daughter Of Smoke And Bone' Is Universal's Next YA Gambit

As The Hunger Games: Catching Fire quickly races towards becoming the highest grossing film of 2013, it's no coincidence studios continue to close deals for similar young adult fare. The latest is Universal, which just signed director Michael Gracey to direct Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the first in a YA trilogy written by Laini Taylor. Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean) adapted the screenplay.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone follows a young woman whose father sends her all over the world on the search for human teeth. Eventually, she realizes he's in the middle of an epic, etherial battle between good and evil.The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of the deal. Universal picked up the book in 2011 with Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland, Oz the Great and Powerful) attached to produce.

Here's the description of the first novel, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, from Amazon:

Karou is a seventeen-year-old art student with a most unusual family. From his desk in a dusty, otherworldly shop, her mysterious, monstrous father sends her on errands across the globe, collecting teeth for a shadowy purpose. On one such errand, Karou encounters an angel, and soon the mysteries of her life and her family are unraveled–with consequences both beautiful and dreadful. National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor has created a lushly imaginative, fully realized world in Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Taylor's writing is as sumptuous as poetry, and the story overflows with dark and delightful magic, star-crossed love, and difficult choices with heartbreaking repercussions.

The book, which won multiple awards, is followed by Days of Blood & Starlight and next year's finale, Dreams of Gods and Monsters. That's scheduled for release Spring 2014.

As for Gracey, he's a digital animator who has been directing commercials recently. His feature debut will likely be Rocketman, the Tom Hardy/Elton John film. With that and this potential studio franchise, he's obviously a director to keep an eye on.

I love the idea of a young female Indiana Jones paired with a battle between heaven and hell. What do you think of the project?