Back in September, we told you that Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, Let Me In) was cast to star as the titular character in Universal Pictures’ big-screen adaptation of Emily the Strange. The project had been under development since 2008 by Dark Horse Entertainment and now, Universal has found the talent to pen the script.

According to THR, Melisa Wallack, the scribe of Relativity’s Snow White film, has been tapped to adapt the cult-pop-culture-icon Emily the Strange for Universal. Though the story line for the film is pretty hush-hush, “the aim is to tell the origin of the punk and gothic figure and how she comes to gain her abilities that fuse technology and imagination. The story will also focus on her relationship with four cats: troublemaker Sabbath, schemer Nee-Chee, imaginative Miles and leader Mystery.”

About Emily The Strange (via Dark Horse Comics):

For more than ten years, pop culture cultists have revered and adored a mysterious, brooding thirteen-year-old girl named Emily the Strange. Nobody knows much about the young girl with a porcelain face and huge eyes framed by black bangs, and her ever-present brood of black cats only adds to the intrigue–but that hasn’t stopped a generation of rabid fans from letting Emily put her spell upon them. Now, for the first time ever, Emily fans will be welcomed into her dark and, well, strange world–a place where kitty friends talk, the ghosts of famous weirdos come out to play, reality is never quite what it seems, and–above all–a place where anyone who’s ever been considered a little “strange” themselves will be made to feel right at home.

Mike Richardson, Emily creator Rob Reger, and Dark Horse’s Keith Goldberg are producing the film.

Emily the Strange is slated to hit theaters in 2013.