Game of Pets Heads Toward Animation at Amazon MGM Studios
An animated feature based on Aaron Blabey's middle-grade book series Game of Pets is in development, Deadline reported on 22 October 2026, in an exclusive.
Rideback and Foundation Media Partners are teaming up to bring the Game of Pets story to the big screen for Amazon MGM Studios. "In development" means the project is still being prepared. The film is not yet in production.
Jonathan Eirich and Michael LoFaso, the chief executives of Rideback, will produce the film with Patrick Hughes of Foundation Media. Aaron Blabey will executive produce alongside Rideback's Nick Reynolds. An executive producer is usually a senior figure who helps shape a project and secure its backing, rather than handling day-to-day filmmaking.
The books are published by Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Deadline noted that Game of Pets: The Boy Who Knew Too Much debuted at No. 4 on the New York Times Children's Middle Grade Hardcover list.
Blabey has a track record on screen. His Bad Guys books became a DreamWorks Animation franchise of two films that together grossed close to half a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. His Thelma the Unicorn was adapted by Netflix, with Blabey as executive producer.
Blabey also has a large readership on the page. Deadline reported that he has more than 60 million books in print around the world.
Middle-grade novels, aimed at readers roughly eight to twelve, have become a steady source of film and television material. Studios often look for books with a built-in audience of young readers and parents who already know the characters. For Game of Pets, that audience is already in place, and the next step is turning it into a film.
Nothing has been announced about voice cast, a director or a release window. Any of those would come from the studio or the producers when they are ready to share them.
