Disney is reportedly planning a Harry Potter-style franchise based around the story of Merlin.

Screenwriter Philippa Boyens has been hired to adapt T.A. Barron’s The Merlin Saga series of 12 books.

Boyens has previously worked on Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, King Kong and The Lovely Bones.

The studio has been searching for “a writer with a strong grasp of how to launch a franchise in a period fantasy world”, Deadline reports.

The Merlin saga has been adapted numerous times for TV and film. BBC One’s Merlin ran for five seasons until 2012 and Guy Ritchie’s Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur movie arrives in cinemas next year, starring Charlie Hunnam (Queer as Folk) as Arthur.

Are you looking forward to seeing a new version of Merlin story? Let us know below…