Dark Horse Entertainment is negotiating the deal that once set will see the company's Mike Richardson acting as producer. Reger also will be a producer, as will Dark Horse's Keith Goldberg.

The character was created in the early 1990s by Reger, a skateboarder who was designing assorted stickers, T-shirts and skateboards. That one design took on a life of its own, and a multimillion-dollar worldwide business with toeholds in fashion, books and comics, toys, school supplies and accessories took off.

Dark Horse has been publishing Emily comics since 2005 and soon after set up an adaptation at Universal. Chloe Grace Moretz was at one point attached to the project, which had writers such as Melissa Wallack (Dallas Buyer Club) penning the script. When the rights lapsed, Dark Horse began shopping it.

Universal’s take was to have been live-action, but the Amazon Studios version will be in the form of an animated movie that would keep the authenticity and edge of the property. A search for writers is underway.