Counterculture icon Emily The Strange is headed to the big screen with her four mysterious cats.

Dark Horse Comics, which has published several comic books detailing the goth teen's exploits, will produce a feature film that will detail her origins.

Skateboarder Rob Reger created the character among a multitude of designs he was printing up for stickers, T-shirts and skateboards in Santa Cruz, California, in the early 1990s.

The 'Emily' design took off and Reger's company, Cosmic Debris, went on to become a multi-million dollar business with toeholds in fashion, books, comics, toys, school supplies and accessories.

Reger has remained the creative director behind the character and is one of several artists who work on Emily.

The film will be produced by Mike Richardson, the founder of Oregon-based Dark Horse.

The project is not yet set-up at a studio, though Universal is a contender as Dark Horse has a first-look deal there.

"Emily herself is very appealing little girl, there's an edge to her," Richardson said.

"There is something very alluring to her image, people see it and respond to it immediately."

Richardson - who has been a producer on such films as Hellboy and its upcoming sequel, as well as 30 Days Of Night - says he and Reger will be looking for a filmmaker who "gets the character."

The filmmaker choice may in turn dictate what format will serve the story best - live-action, animation or a combination of the two.

The storyline is being kept under wraps, though Reger, who concocted it, says it will offer up some back story and will feature Emily's four cats - troublemaker Sabbath, schemer Nee-Chee, imaginative Miles and leader Mystery.

It will also have 13 new characters with names like Earwig, Umlaut, McFreeley and Officer Summers.

The story forms the basis of an Emily young adult novel, which will be published next year by HarperCollins.

- Reuters