Warner Bros. has picked up rights to Jeff Smith's acclaimed independent comic book series "Bone" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The fantasy series followed three cousins from the Bone family who are small, white and bald humanlike creatures with big noses. The trio are run out of their hometown and find themselves in a mysterious valley where they are separated and hunted by other creatures.

They are taken in by a girl named Thorn and her grandmother, and find out that the valley is threatened by an evil force called the Lord of the Locusts.

Running from 1991-2004, the series has sold more than a million copies so far. A decision on what kind of format "Bone" should take -- live-action or animated or both -- will be based on filmmaker meetings.

An animated version was previous in development at Nickelodeon Films but fell through due to the studio wanting to make a kiddie-orientated film complete with pop songs.