Sony Pictures gets "Goosebumps"

Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights from Scholastic Media to adapt R.L. Stine's best-selling "Goosebumps" book series for the big screen, the studio said on Thursday.

The hugely popular series for children, which has sold 300 million books worldwide, is second only to Scholastic's "Harry Potter" series in sales, and the Sony Corp.-owned studio is hoping for similarly magical results.

The film version of "Goosebumps" will be produced by Neil Moritz, best-known for such action hits as "The Fast and the Furious" franchise, and Scholastic's Deborah Forte.

Columbia says that it will begin working on the first "Goosebumps" film immediately.