Lionsgate to release 'Three Investigators' movie

I don’t know if it’s any good, but I have high hopes for a DVD release I just read about: “The Three Investigators: The Secret of Skeleton Island.”

It’s based on a series of young adult mysteries I devoured as a kid. The three investigators are Jupiter Jones (Chancellor Miller, TV’s “Everybody Hates Chris”), Pete Crenshaw (Nick Price, “Because of Winn-Dixie”) and Bob Andrews (Cameron Monaghan, Showtime’s “Shameless”).

In the original books, which were first published in the 1960s, the young teenagers had a junkyard base and hung out with famed movie director Alfred Hitchcock. The series ran on for more than 40 books in the United States, but it’s those first ones I’d check out of the library and take with me on trips Up North for the long car ride.

Lionsgate will release the movie on Dec. 6. According to the series’ Wikipedia article, the movie was originally released in Austria. Apparently, the series is still immensely popular with German-speaking readers.

Here’s the official movie description:

Jupiter, Pete and Bob are no ordinary kids — they are world-renowned as the Three Investigators. Solving crimes and discovering secrets is all in a day’s work for these three, but when they are invited to South Africa, they suspect something is amiss. Their investigation leads them to help a young girl escape from the dangers of Cape Town, then chase down an evil treasure hunter through the desert and mountains. Before they can go back home, they’re in for a showdown with a mysterious and horrific creature named “The Tokolosh.” Uncovering the secrets of Skeleton Island is quickly shaping up to be the most dangerous case the trio has ever had.

I hope they still have the junkyard base and periscope, but I’m guessing they don’t know Alfred Hitchcock.