Spielberg picks up Locke and Key

Steven Spielberg is re-teaming with his War of the Worlds screenwriter Josh Friedman to turn Joe Hill's comic book series Locke and Key into a TV series, according to a report on New York Magazine's website.

Hill's books "revolve around three kids who end up watching over a secret, spooky New England mansion filled with mystical doors that transport them to different worlds and give them special powers (like turning into a ghost)", according to the report.

Super-scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci - who have spoken in the past about how Spielberg's Amblin heyday has influenced the choice of projects they're developing - are also onboard.

Dimension had purchased the TV and film rights to the IDW Publishing series back in 2008, not long after the first installment came out (several installments have followed, including one released earlier this month). While there had been talk in the blogosphere of Kurtzman and Orci turning Locke and Key into a feature, the project is now moving ahead as a TV series, with Friedman on board to write and produce. Kurtzman and Orci recently signed a big overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, so the studio will end up producing with Spielberg's DreamWorks TV (mirroring their current collaboration on Spielberg's fall 2011 Fox dinosaur drama Terra Nova). There's no broadcast or cable outlet attached yet, but based on the idea for the show and the fact that 20th is involved, the Fox network certainly seems like a logical home.