The NeverEnding Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a 1984 West German-produced English language epic fantasy film series based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ende. The original 1984 film, The NeverEnding Story, was directed and co-written by Wolfgang Petersen and was later followed by two sequels. The first film adapted only the first half of the original novel, the second half of the novel was used as the basis for the second film, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter. The third film in the series, The NeverEnding Story III, has an original plot.