Platinum deal for Valentine

Family to haunt TV

By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

Comicbook outfit Platinum Studios has partnered with Dean Valentine's new First Family Entertainment to adapt several projects for television.

Among the concepts in development are "Meet the Haunteds," a series of graphic novels about a white family who move into an old mansion haunted by the ghosts of a black family.

Scribe Chris Wichtendahl is writing the books; "Haunteds" is being developed as a half-hour sitcom as well as a direct-to-DVD property.

Platinum and First Family also are behind "Spaced," to be written and directed by Adam Rifkin ("Mouse Hunt," "Small Soldiers").

That project revolves around a teenager who shares his body with an alien who "morphs out of parts of his body at inopportune times." Platinum calls it a mix of "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Man With Two Brains." Rob Moran is penning the graphic novel.

Both projects are live-action adaptations. Platinum's Scott Mitchell Rosenberg will exec produce, along with First Family's Valentine and Scott Imergut.

Platinum's pact with First Family comes soon after the comicbook company acquired film and TV rights from indie comics publisher Top Cow Prods. That deal gives Platinum control of the largest independent catalog of comicbook characters in the U.S.

Rosenberg, who launched Platinum in 1997, first published the "Men in Black" series while at Malibu Comics, helping bring that franchise to Sony. More recently, Platinum's credits have included Showtime's "Jeremiah," which returns to the pay cabler Sept. 3.

Platinum is also behind the comics-to-film adaptations "Cowboys & Aliens" at Sony, "Mal Chance" at Miramax and "Unique" at Disney.

Projects are among the first TV-oriented titles to be developed by First Family since its launch earlier this year. Former UPN chief exec and Walt Disney TV prexy Valentine partnered with industry vets Richard Cohen and Nicholas Van Dyk to start First Family, which emphasizes direct-to-DVD production, in April.