London/Sydney-based See-Saw Films (Heartstopper) is heading to Fantastica with its next project.

The studio has just announced plans to make multiple live-action films based on Michael Ende’s classic 1979 novel The Neverending Story in partnership with a production shingle set up in the German author’s name.

This story revolves around a young boy who gets immersed in a book about heroes trying to save Fantastica and its ruler from a mysterious force (known as The Nothing). Things take a turn when he is actually transported into the magical realm to embark on a heroic quest, while also looking for a way back home.

The Neverending Story is among the bestselling children’s books of all time, with more than 16 million copies sold to date. These impressive sales were buoyed by a well-known 1984 live-action film (pictured above) that was distributed by Warner Bros. It grossed US$100 million worldwide against a US$26-million budget and spawned two sequels in 1990 and 1994.

Pictured clockwise from left: Ralph Gassmann, Roman Hocke, Iain Canning and Wolf-Dieter von Gronau.

See-Saw has only just started assembling a creative team for this new project, so details are few and far between. But studio co-founders Iain Canning and Emile Sherman are producing, along with literary agents Roman Hocke and Ralph Gassmann, who formed Michael Ende Productions. (Hocke and Gassman hail from Munich-based literary agency AVA, which reps and manages the rights to Ende’s work. Hocke is also the curator of the late author’s literary estate.)

See-Saw’s Simon Gillis (COO) and Helen Gregory (creative director) are attached as EPs with Lorenzo De Maio (The Last Legion) and Ende’s executor Wolf-Dieter Von Gronau.

In recent years, a growing number of companies have tapped into ’80s nostalgia for new entertainment projects. This trend is epitomized and driven by the success of teen-favorite Netflix series Stranger Things. And the show’s third season revived interest in The Neverending Story, with a popular scene featuring the 1984 film’s title song quickly generating a whopping 800% increase in YouTube streams for the track.