Blue Sky Studios, based at 20th Century Fox, has been behind some of the best-loved animated kids movies of the last few years-- both Ice Age movies and the forthcoming third one-- and some, well, less-loved ones (poor Robots). But they've done pretty solid work overall with animation that appeals heavily to younger kids, and now they seem to be expanding to something a bit darker and more adventurous.

Slashfilm is reporting a rumor that after Ice Age 3, their next film will be an adaptation of The Anubis Tapestry, an illustrated adventure fantasy by Bruce Zick. The clincher, Slashfilm says, is that Zick has recently been hired by the studio to “develop several of their future film concepts.” And Chris Wedge, who directed Ice Age and Robots, wrote a blurb for the back of Anubis. It seems that Zick is a guy with good connections at the studio, at least, and more likely to get a movie deal with them than some unknown.

The book itself, sounds kind of insane but great. In The Anubis Tapestry a young boy must pretend to be a mummy in order to rescue his father from the Underworld, and in the process comes across all sorts of fearsome beasts that seem straight out of Greek mythology. Slashfilm also included some of the illustrations from the book, one of which you can see above. All in all it seems awfully weird but cool, something a little too scary for the pre-schoolers who loved Horton Hears A Who! but maybe better for the devoted Harry Potter fans. Either way, it seems like a good step for Blue Sky, and even if this isn't the specific movie they make, having Zick on staff will likely help them in the future.