The chapter books were first adapted for TV with a live-action series that aired on Nickelodeon from 1998 to 2000.

Ryan Coogler to produce Animorphs TV series reboot for Disney+ after Sinners Oscar win

The chapter books were first adapted for TV with a live-action series that aired on Nickelodeon from 1998 to 2000.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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April 3, 2026 2:41 p.m. ET

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The invasion is returning to a small screen near you thanks to Ryan Coogler!

The Oscar-winning filmmaker is executive producing an *Animorphs* TV series currently in early development at Disney+, ** has learned. Coogler will serve as an executive producer alongside Proximity Media partners Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler, with Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman executive producing for Scholastic. The children's book publisher is the original distributor of K. A. Applegate's 54-book youth sci-fi series, initially published between 1996 and 2001.

*The Testaments* and *The Summer I Turned Pretty* scribe Bayan Wolcott has been attached to write and executive produce the series for 20th Television. Proximity Media's Simone Harris, vice president and head of TV, and Dezi Gallegos, director of TV development, will also oversee the project.

The show's official logline reads, "*Animorphs* follows a group of teenagers who uncover a hidden threat lurking beneath their everyday lives, all while juggling relationships, curfews, and the chaos of high school."

Cover of Animorphs: The Alien' by K.A. Applegate.

The beloved book series, created by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, followed a group of teenagers — Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias — who gain the ability to morph into any animal they touch after meeting a dying alien of the Andalite race. They learn that the Andalite has been fighting a parasitic alien race known as Yeerks, who are looking to take over the Earth in a bid to expand their empire across the galaxy.

The teens unite to use their powers within a secret resistance against the Yeerks and to save the world. Casual after-school activities.

The chapter books were first adapted for TV for a live-action series that aired on Nickelodeon for two seasons, from 1998 to 2000. The series starred *X-Men *actor Shawn Ashmore, Brooke Nevin, Boris Cabrera, Nadia Nascimento, and Christopher Ralph as the titular animorphs. Paulo Costanzo later joined the cast as Ax, a young Andalite stranded on Earth.

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The news of Coogler's latest comes after the filmmaker won Best Original Screenplay at the 2026 Oscars for his critically acclaimed vampire period piece, *Sinners*. Fellow collaborator Autumn Durald Arkapaw also became the first woman to win Best Cinematography in Academy Awards history, while Ludwig Göransson picked up his third Oscar for Best Original Score.

And the film's leading man, Michael B. Jordan, took home the trophy for Best Actor after playing both twins Smoke and Stack.

Ryan Coogler poses with the Oscar for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) during the 98th Annual Academy Awards.

Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty

The series is the second project under Coogler and Proximity Media's TV overall deal with Disney. The director's other project, a reboot of *The X Files* starring Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel, was given the green light for a pilot by Hulu in February.

Original series star Gillian Anderson has praised Coogler's vision for the new series, telling fans that the project is "different" and "special," so fans should "give it a break."

"We've had a few conversations," Anderson said of Coogler during an appearance at Awesome Con. "He's such a cool guy, and so talented. And the pilot script is really good. I would say, have an open mind and give it a chance, because it's gonna be f---ing cool. It really is."

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