Sony Pictures and Chinese production company Tencent have landed rights to “Finding Gobi,” a touching memoir about a stray dog who befriends a runner, and plan to adapt it as a feature film.

20th Century Fox originally optioned the book in 2017, but the project was abandoned when Disney acquired Fox’s film assets two years later.

“Finding Gobi” was written by Dion Leonard, a seasoned ultra-marathon runner who crossed paths with an abandoned dog while competing in a 155-mile race through the Gobi Desert in China. In something of a heroic feat, the small pup — later named Gobi — stuck around and kept pace with Leonard across mountains and sand dunes for 77 miles.

Gobi later went missing, but with the help of strangers and an outpouring of internet assistance, Leonard was able to track her down and reunite with the dog that changed his life.

Terry George, who previously directed “Hotel Rwanda,...