The Seeker is a 2007 American family drama-fantasy film, a very loose film adaptation of the children's fantasy novel The Dark Is Rising (1973) by Susan Cooper. The film is directed by David L. Cunningham and stars Ian McShane, Alexander Ludwig, Frances Conroy, Gregory Smith, and Christopher Eccleston as the Rider. The Seeker is the first film to be produced by 20th Century Fox and Walden Media as part of their Fox-Walden partnership. On his 14th birthday Will Stanton (Ludwig) finds out that he is the last of a group of warriors – The Light – who have spent their lives fighting against evil – The Dark. Will travels through time to track down the signs that will enable him to confront the evil forces. The Dark is personified by The Rider (Eccleston). The film performed poorly at the box office and received strong negative reaction from both critics, fans of the book series & even Susan Cooper herself for its disregard of the source material.