Magic: The Gathering is set to receive the feature film franchise treatment. Twentieth Century Fox and Hasbro have reached an agreement that will allow the film production company to create original films using Magic's characters and storyline, "with an eye to launch a massive franchise on the scale of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings," says an article from The Hollywood Reporter.

The project will enlist Simon Kinberg, the Fox-based writer-producer who is also helping shape the X-Men and Fantastic Four film and television universes, to produce the adaptation.

Many production outfits and directors have tried to get a Magic: The Gathering movie project off the ground in the past, but this most recent agreement is the farthest any such project has gotten thus far.

The news of the agreement was released today in an official press release, and was originally reported earlier in the week by The Hollywood Reporter.