Shawn Levy and his 21 Laps company has signed on to produce a Berenstain Bears movie, along with Corus Entertainment's Nelvana and Walden Media. The film will be a combination of live action and computer animation. A release date is slated for late 2011. Nelvana produced the animated TV version of the property, which airs on PBS. Walden Media acquired the rights to the property, which launched as a book series in 1962 by Jan and Stan Berenstain. The book series is published by HarperCollins. Levy's previous directorial film credits include "Night at the Museum," "The Pink Panther" and "Cheaper by the Dozen."

In other feature-film news, Robert Zemeckis revealed that the original writers of 1998's live-action cartoon Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Peter Seaman and Jeffrey Price, have begun scripting a sequel.

In addition, DreamWorks Animation has signed on Peter Ramsey to direct The Guardians, working title, a film based on William Joyce's upcoming children's book series "The Guardians of Childhood." David Lindsay-Abaire will write the script. The property, which will first debut as a book series in 2011, follows the adventures of immortal "guardians," who are sworn to protect children from evil. It will chronicle the origins of a number of childhood mythic figures, including Santa Claus, Jack Frost, The Easter Bunny and The Man in the Moon. Joyce will serve as co-director on the film project. DreamWorks acquired the property from Reel FX. Ramsey previously served as head of story on DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens, as well as director of its Halloween TV special "Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space." Lindsay-Abaire  was recently nominated for a Tony award for his book and lyrics for "Shrek The Musical."

And finally,Warner Bros. and Vanguard Films have been tapped to develop a film based on John Adam's documentary TV series "The Future is Wild." The feature will use animation with live-action and animatronic techniques. The property has previously seen expansions in children's animation, books, manga, educational programs, toys, games, CD-roms and theme park licenses. Commercial partners are Gerhard Sieber and Ettore Botta.