Director Gavin Hood ('X-Men Origins: Wolverine') may be rebooting the story of another mammalian, hybrid hero: Balto.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Hood is in talks to direct an adaptation of Gay and Laney Salisbury's book 'The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic,' an Alaskan dog-sledding tale, in which a crew of 200 dogs helped 20 bitter cold men bring a much-needed diphtheria cure to Nome, Alaska in 1925.

Among those dogs: half-wolf Balto, who later was enshrined on a statue in Central Park, then featured in a 1995 animated film, voiced by Kevin Bacon. Director Gavin Hood ('X-Men Origins: Wolverine') may be rebooting the story of another mammalian, hybrid hero: Balto.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Hood is in talks to direct an adaptation of Gay and Laney Salisbury's book 'The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic,' an Alaskan dog-sledding tale, in which a crew of 200 dogs helped 20 bitter cold men bring a much-needed diphtheria cure to Nome, Alaska in 1925.

Among those dogs: half-wolf Balto, who later was enshrined on a statue in Central Park, then featured in a 1995 animated film, voiced by Kevin Bacon.

Presumably, the Salisburys' book (and Hood's movie) has slightly new take on the tale.

Hood -- whose take on the Wolverine origin story grossed $373 million worldwide, despite laughable reviews and an online scandal -- hopes to start shooting this summer.

Next up for the Oscar-winning 'Tsotsi' director is the Fox pilot 'Breakout Kings'. For more on that, visit Inside TV.