Patterson's 'Ride' goes to Columbia

James Patterson's young adult book series Maximum Ride will be turned into a film franchise by Columbia Pictures.

The premise involves six children who have been genetically modified to be 98% human and 2% bird. After escaping from a test laboratory, their scientist creators dispatch a pack of human-wolf hybrids called Erasers to track them down.

Don Payne (Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer) has been hired to pen the screenplay.

Producers Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul will guide the production with Patterson on board as executive producer.

Avid Arad told Variety: "The Maximum Ride books use man-made mutation as a metaphor of humans trying to take advantage of human frailty and interfere with nature."