James Patterson's 'Maximum Ride' to come to life on YouTube

[July 10, 2014]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Best-selling author James Patterson has reached a deal to turn his young adult book franchise "Maximum Ride" into an Internet video series that will be released on YouTube.

Patterson sold exclusive online rights for "Maximum Ride" to Collective Digital Studio (CDS), a production company and operator of YouTube channels, according to a statement released on Wednesday.

The eight "Maximum Ride" books, which have sold more than 30 million copies, tell the story of children who are genetically modified with bird DNA and can fly. The franchise already has a following on YouTube, where fans have posted videos of themselves acting out scenes from the books.

CDS plans to start its online series with six to 10 episodes that are each about 10 minutes long, said Gary Binkow, partner and chief content officer for CDS. It hopes to release them next year, he said.

Patterson, whose adult thrillers include the Alex Cross series, will serve as an executive producer, CDS said.

YouTube is owned by Google.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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