'Seeker' follows in fantasy footsteps

September 07, 2007 With J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels, J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" books having already spawned blockbuster franchises for Warner Bros., New Line and Disney, there are high hopes now at 20th Century Fox and Walden Media for "Seeker," based on the second in Susan Cooper's best-selling series of five "The Dark is Rising" children's novels published in the 1960s and '70s. "Seeker," by the way, is the first film to result from the Fox Walden Films partnership. On the heels of "Seeker," opening Oct. 5 via Fox, Fox Walden Films has its high-profile family fantasy comedy "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," starring Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and Dustin Hoffman, opening Nov. 16 via Fox just in time for Thanksgiving.

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